American Legion Auxiliary selects two Southeast juniors as delegates

Rhett Breedlove
Posted 5/31/23

Tylar Stoddard and Sadie Cross, both juniors of Southeast High School have been selected as delegates for the American Legion Auxiliary (ALA) Wyoming Girls State (WGS) session to be held at Laramie County Community College (LCCC) in Cheyenne June 4-10.

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American Legion Auxiliary selects two Southeast juniors as delegates

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YODER – Tylar Stoddard and Sadie Cross, both juniors of Southeast High School have been selected as delegates for the American Legion Auxiliary (ALA) Wyoming Girls State (WGS) session to be held at Laramie County Community College (LCCC) in Cheyenne June 4-10.

According to the ALA, any female student in the eleventh grade of a Wyoming High School, Virtual High School, or homeschool is eligible and welcome to participate, providing she is selected as a delegate and sponsored by an ALA Local Unit.

The boys division of the ALA will be participating in the Wyoming (WY) State session the following week from June 11-17.

Tylar is the daughter of Cathy and Tony Stoddard of LaGrange, and is sponsored by the John A. McGill ALA Unit 70 of LaGrange. Sadie is the daughter of Ty and Cassie Cross, both of Yoder, and is sponsored by the Travis Snow ALA Unit 5 of Torrington.

Cathy Stoddard is currently the acting President of the ALA Unit 70, and also the Chairman for WGS.

The basis of the ALA-WGS session is for young ladies of WY to get an accurate, yet fun feel for the political process of local, county, state, and federal government. Throughout each day the girls will have plenty to learn and discuss, with the session beginning early in the morning, and lasting late into the evening with plenty of breaks thrown in.

“I’m a member of the ALA Unit 70 in LaGrange, and we try to get delegates for girls state every year,” Stoddard began. “I recently came to Southeast and did a little information session, and showed them what Girls State is all about. It’s a weeklong session at LCCC. They will go from six in the morning until about ten thirty at night.”

According to the ALA, it is a strong recommendation that students who are selected as delegates receive training, which includes flag etiquette, campaigning for office, writing bills, and parliamentary procedure.

The session is set up with various programs that pertain to government, judicial and criminal process. The participants as well will take part in simulated elections and trials, that will give them a chance to both vote and run for political office. This will also include having a first-hand look at what criminal court would look like.

Both Sadie and Tylar have been selected to participate in mostly the simulated court proceedings.

“Basically, it’s cut up into court, house and senate, programs,” Stoddard said. “They both ended up being selected for court. There will be educational training in the judicial process by participating in mock trials. They could be playing a judge, jury, attorney, or witness. So, what they will do is teach them in each one of those groups, and at the end of the day they will get together and talk about all the things that they’ve learned.”

Although both Sadie and Tylar are active in other activities in their daily school lives, participating in the ALA-WGS will be a first for both.

Sadie expressed both a feeling of excitement and nerves about participating in the upcoming state session.

“I do participate in student council and choir, but I am a little nervous about the whole thing.”

Sadie further laughed and said, “I’ll probably barely get to see Tylar, and I’ll have to see people I haven’t seen before. I’ve never really considered myself a people person.”

Despite acknowledging a bit of self-proclaimed bashfulness, Sadie advocated that she is still ready and excited for this opportunity to learn something new, and that being exposed to the voting and political process is an important factor she would truly like to learn more about.

“I want to have a better understanding, of how the Wyoming legislature works and to break out of my comfort zone more,” Sadie said. “Cathy was the one who gave me the rundown of how it works. She said it’d be good for me, and I would have a lot of fun. I would like to see how things work. To go through all the courts, the capitol and all those things. It’s just a kind of trial run for now. I’m interested in voting, and I just want to see how it all works.”

Tylar noted with a rising interest in criminal justice as a possible career, the WGS session is a fantastic opportunity to hopefully build on that notion. Also, with both her mother and sister having been active in ALA, Tylar is ready to give it a chance herself.

“Just like what Sadie said, it’s about getting out of my comfort zone,” Tylarsaid. “The legislator is such a big important part of everyone’s daily life. I really need to know how it works and help me better understand. My sister did it a couple of years ago. That’s how I got introduced to it, along with my mom. I’ve always been interested in criminal justice, and thought this would be a good introduction, outlook and perspective of what I might be getting myself into in the future.”

Tylar, as well as Sadie, participates in other activities offered at the Southeast High School, and is eager to start the summer with getting to Cheyenne and experiencing something new. She noted that with matters such as state legislation, she may have to control a somewhat lively personality.

“I was an officer this year in FFA, and I also do varsity volleyball, indoor and outdoor track and 4-H,” she said. “I’m excited, and I like meeting new people. Since it’s kind of [about] being professional, they will be strict about things, and I’m very bubbly.”

With several long days of learning and experiencing political process, as well as learning new skills and knowledge pertaining to state legislation, the girls will have a final opportunity to continue the experience just north of Washington D.C. in Chevy Chase, Maryland in July if selected by their fellow delegates.

“Senator John Barrasso has been present to take pictures the last several years,” Stoddard said. “There are sometimes state or federal representatives that make appearances and give motivational speeches, answer questions, and take time with the girls. It’s a big deal.”

For additional information, feel free to contact Cathy Stoddard at 307-834-2466, Girls State Director Dawn Kenneda at 307-321-0848, or visit wygsdirector@gmail.com.