CONA Wrap-Up

The YMCA Conference on National Affairs could not have wrapped up any better for the Tennessee Delegation.  Evan Ford, from Brentwood Academy, passed his proposal on banning collective bargaining for teachers in Plenary, which is the highest a bill can be ranked.  Taylor Norton, also from Brentwood Academy, presented in General Assembly with an outstanding performance on allowing firearms on college campuses.  The entire delegation was very outstanding the entire week!  We received Premier Delegation as a state for our timeliness in preparations for the conference and outstanding performance at CONA.  Nicola Shorten of Evangelical Christian School and Evan Ford won Outstanding Statesperson; only 24 out of the 570 students from the conference received this award.  Evan Ford (can you tell he's pretty awesome?!) was also named third alternate for Presiding Officer, the highest award possible.  Presiding Officers serve as the leaders of next year's conference and are picked based on their outstanding performance at the conference, outstanding performance with their delegation at home, and their evidence of servant leadership.  He will have big shoes to fill as Ryan Ray, now a student at University of Tennessee- Knoxville, did a great job as Presiding Officer this year.  We could not be more proud of Tennessee!  Congrats guys on a great week!

CONA Update

Team Tennessee has been busy at CONA this week! We have spent the past few days debating, presenting, and spending time getting to know students from across the US. We had 12 students move from first committee onto second committee, an honor that less than half of CONA delegates receive. Out of these 12 students, four students moved onto third committee, a feat that less than a sixth of delegates receive. At the moment, we are in General Assembly. We are proud to announce that Tennessee delegate, Taylor Norton, made the General Assembly docket. He is one of forty students out of the 560 proposals that were chosen. He will present his proposal on legalizing firearms on college campuses tomorrow so be sure to check back to see if his bill passes. Otherwise, Tennessee students have stood out in debates and enjoyed catching the Blue Ridge Spirit. Wish us luck as we move into tomorrow's events!