At the Jefferson City Convention, which took place this weekend, FHC’s Youth in Government (YIG) took home many awards. Out of the 32 students who went from FHC, 13 won awards.

This year, there were only two types of awards given: Outstanding Statesman and Outstanding Bill. However, in instances such as junior Spencer Foust, students may qualify for both.

“Spencer was in both categories, but he could only win in one. Since his bill already went into law, we gave him the Outstanding Statesman award,” said YIG sponsor Ms. Margo Hoffman.

Foust’s bill was unanimously passed in both the House and Senate, which regarded funds for the Autism Project.

“I was shocked I won the award, because I hardly had any opposition to argue against,” said Foust.

Another award won was the Best Feature News Story Award by the FHC video news crew. This crew included seniors Kyle Pyatt and Nick Staudacher as news anchor and technical director and sophomore Tyler Tran, who will be next year’s news anchor.

“Kyle and Nick did some really cool, creative things that I’ve never seen before,” said Ms. Hoffman. “As they said, it was ‘epic’.”

Ms. Hoffman also won an award at the convention. She was named the Outstanding Advisor for 2012.

“Even I got an award this year, which was pretty cool for my last year here,” said Ms. Hoffman.

After 22 years of being a YIG advisor, Ms. Hoffman is retiring as its advisor. However, she has been asked to volunteer with the YMCA as a YIG advisor.

“I love the program. My favorite part is to see the creativity from the students,” said Mrs. Hoffman. “I see them come up with points of view I’ve never thought of.”