SPHS’s Crawford elected YIG Governor

Noah Crawford became the governor of Alabama’s Youth In Government (YIG) program during the annual Youth Legislature convention in February. It was the end of a long road for the Spain Park junior.

Noah first announced his campaign in a September 2012 YIG planning retreat. His first obstacle was getting past a district nomination in December, where he beat out a candidate from Mountain Brook who was also popular within the district.

After being nominated out of the district, Noah’s next campaign took him right to the state capitol in Montgomery, where he urged fellow Youth Legislature delegates to vote for him during the February convention.

“There were just two of us running for governor,” Noah said. “I ordered pins and handed out business cards, and I gave a speech and participated in a debate. It was exhausting, but it paid off.” For the next year, it will be up to Noah to control many important aspects of Alabama’s YIG. Policy, logistics and recruitment are all at the hands of Noah and his team of staff members.

One of Noah’s campaign promises involved reaching out to potential participants in YIG, specifically at the middle school level. He plans to spend several weekends within the coming year visiting schools throughout the state, encouraging younger students to join their school’s youth legislature club.

Noah’s election capped off an exciting year for Spain Park’s government club, which is led by faculty adviser Libby Day.

“We went to New York for a judicial conference and got stranded in Hurricane Sandy,” Day said. “Then we came back and Noah was best attorney at another competition, and his team came in second place. The first place team was also from our school. Now one of our students is the governor, so this is definitely the cherry on top of a great year.”

Noah is planning to study political science after graduating next year, with the intent of attending law school.

“It’s because of the campaign that I want to get involved in politics and be involved in campaigns in some way.”

Youth In Government, sponsored by the YMCA, is an educational program that gives students the opportunity to interact as professional lawmakers and judicial members.