Local residents attend annual YMCA Model Legislature and Court in Sacramento

When Joe Eustermann is not busy with his duties as a senior manager for Costa Mesa-based Experian, he finds time for another passion - volunteering as lead staff member for the Office of the Legislative Analyst within California’s Youth Legislature.

Part of the YMCA Youth and Government, the Model Legislature and Court is a program where teen delegates write bills, select governmental positions to role-play, attend statewide training conferences, and run for various elected offices. The program annually reaches its peak in Sacramento at the State Capitol with the convening of the five-day Model Legislature and Court each February.

Joe recently attended the annual five-day Model Legislature and Court, where he was joined by Corona del Mar High School seniors Athena Livadas and Austin ‘AJ” Rading. Both students refer to the time they have spent in the program as a life-changing experience.

“Participating in California’s Youth Legislature has helped me to become a more confident and better person,” said Livadas, who has been in the program for three years. “I think it’s the single most important experience a high school student can have. You get as much out of it as you put into it.”

“This program is a real eye-opener for me,” said Rading. “Meeting students with such different backgrounds and life stories than mine, I feel like I have burst out of the Newport Beach bubble that I have grown up in. The program provides a level playing field for everyone involved.”

When the group reached Sacramento, the “real” government moved over and the teen delegates took over, using the historic halls, chambers and offices of the State Capitol, Supreme Court, and Governor’s Office.

While in Sacramento, the students reviewed proposed legislation, including bills submitted by the Newport/Corona del Mar contingent that included the proposed prohibition of the sale of non-organic pesticides in retail stores for home use, and a bill that would require that organ donors receive income tax deductions of up to $10,000.

“The youth program builds leadership skills, life assets and character traits that help 3,000 high school students yearly become more involved, responsible, decent, and respectable citizens,” said Joe. “My delegates are California’s future government and business leaders. They fully understand the implications of legislation on the State’s bottom line.”

Over the years, Experian has donated tens of thousands of dollars to help local delegates learn about leadership, grow in confidence and understand that they, and their opinions, matter. Through this support, hundreds of deserving students have had the opportunity to have a life-changing experience.