Knightly News

Episcopal was well represented at Girls State and Boys State this year, with Skylar Rattler, Riley Posey, Emma Engstrom and Ramsey Claire Greene attending Girls State and Hayden Singh attending Boys State. After a successful Girls State experience, senior Ramsey Claire earned the opportunity to represent Louisiana at Girls Nation. She shares more about the experience and the important lessons learned.

This summer, I had the privilege of attending Louisiana Girls State with rising senior girls from all over Louisiana. This conference, similar to Louisiana’s Youth and Government program, teaches young leaders about Louisiana’s system of government and shows us all that goes into running our state. While at Girls State, I had the opportunity to run for and serve on my parish’s school board and was elected Parish Party Chairwoman by my peers. I’ve participated in Youth Legislature throughout my high school experience, but Girls State exposed me to every other aspect of our local government that influences the way our community functions. Throughout the week, I worked to find solutions to funding and resource crises in Louisiana’s public school system to write what would win the conference’s Outstanding School Board Project award. Additionally, I competed against my peers for the chance to attend Girls Nation.

A few weeks later, I boarded a plane to Washington D.C. where I and my fellow Louisiana delegate would do just that. In legislative sessions throughout the week, two girls from each state debated and passed or failed original legislation that addressed issues citizens face throughout the nation. My partner and I defended and passed our bill in order to help combat Louisiana’s flash flooding and coastal erosion, and we learned about the problems other states face. Through proposed solutions to these problems and the affirmative and negative debate points we heard throughout these sessions, we also learned how each piece of legislation affects no two groups or areas in the same way.

At the end of the week, we went to Capitol Hill and met up with the two Louisiana representatives to Boys Nation and met with Senator Bill Cassidy (with a cameo appearance by his intern, Quentin Messer ‘22) and Senator John Kennedy’s legislative staff. In these meetings, we presented our legislation, learned about the Senate from their first-hand experience, and spoke with them about issues our state faces and what steps they have taken to address these.

 The American Legion Auxiliary, the organization that organizes and funds Girls Nation, works with the Department of Veterans Affairs to advocate for the care and wellbeing of all who have sacrificed everything to give us the freedom to uphold our democracy. Learning more about the military experience from veterans and their family members contributed greatly to our experience that week. Millions have given up all they have to serve in our military and fight so that each and every citizen of the United States has the opportunity to be the change they want to see, and their service and sacrifice make it that much more important that we take that opportunity. Thanks to these two programs, I better understand how I can.

Ramsey Claire Greene is a senior who serves as Beta Club Co-President, National Honor Society Treasurer, a member of the State Board for Model United Nations, a member of Student Vestry, and tutors middle schoolers in the Academic Resource Center. She enjoys competing in Varsity Track & Field, Youth Legislature, Model United Nations, and Mu Alpha Theta, as well as leading the weekly Middle School and High School Bible Studies. Outside of school, she studies Spanish in Mexico and serves as a counselor at Camp Longhorn.

The Episcopal School of Baton Rouge 2024-2025 application is now available! ​For more information on the application process, to schedule a tour, or learn more about the private school, contact us at [email protected] or 225-755-2685.