SALISBURY — June 9-15 will be the 74th consecutive year of Tar Heel Girls State, and for the 12th year, Catawba College will host the week-long session.
At the annual event, sponsored by the American Legion Auxiliary, Department of North Carolina, several hundred high school juniors who are academically in the top third of their class, will participate. The Girls State program is a week-long study of the structure and operation of state Government. In a non-partisan atmosphere, participants take a hands-on approach to learning how state and local governments function. Citizens, as the participants are known, create and live under their own mock government.
They are grouped into cities while organizing their local government, electing officers, preparing a city charter and conducting activities. Citizens also assume the role of a senator, representative or lobbyist to research and write bills and resolutions for the Girls State Legislature. Each citizen is also a member of a fictitious political party, which will develop a party platform, engineer campaigns for candidates and elect a slate of officers to govern Tar Heel Girls State. Parliamentary procedure is used to conduct all meetings.
The session will be run by auxiliary members from across the state who volunteer. Two of these auxiliary members, Chair of the Commission Kaye Brown Hirst, of Salisbury, and Program Director Julie Cooper, of Valdese, will be participating for their 26th year. Others involved on staff include Dr. Michael Bitzer, parliamentarian; Mary Jane Thompson, house mother; Tina Brown, music director; and Rena Ogle, assistant counselor.
“The citizens have a wonderful opportunity during the week to become involved and learn the rules of civic engagement,” Hirst said. “These young women will be our leaders soon, and they will gain valuable experiences in leadership.”
Judge Beth Dixon of Rowan County will swear in the girls as Girls State citizens on Sunday, June 9. Guest speakers include Megan Richardson from Davidson County Family Services; Amanda Matthews from the ASU’s ROTC/Military Science program; Janet Ward Black, an attorney and former Miss N.C.; and Morgan Speight, 2012 Tar Heel Girls State Governor.
From Rowan County, students are sponsored by American Legion Auxiliary Units in Salisbury, Faith, West Rowan and Landis. From Cabarrus County, students are sponsored by American Legion Auxiliary Units in Concord, Kannapolis, Harrisburg and Mt. Pleasant. From Stanly County, they are sponsored by the unit in Albemarle.
Notable former Girls State participants include Ashley Moore and the late Bernice Lerner, both of Salisbury, who were elected governors at Tar Heel Girls State.

North Carolina is the only state to have had Girls State for 74 consecutive years, according to Hirst. The program is an Americanism project of the American Legion Auxiliary and an American Legion Auxiliary Unit approves all applications and nominates girls for the program.
Hirst reiterated that moving the program to Catawba College helped strengthen the nationally recognized program thanks in part to the strong support from the local community.
Two delegates from Tar Heel Girls State will be selected to participate in Girls Nation. The names of these two individuals will be announced during closing ceremonies of Tar Heel Girls State.
National figures who have participated in Girls State programs in other locations include television personality Jane Pauley, former Texas Gov. Ann Richards, former Miss U.S.A. Terri Utley, and the First Female Wing Commander in the U.S. Air Force Academy, Capt. Michelle Johnson.