The California Area Chamber of Commerce on Jan. 13 approved sponsorship for a California student to attend Girls State as well as discussed plans for their upcoming annual dinner meeting Jan. 22.
The Moniteau County R-1 School District asked the chamber for donations for students to attend Boys and Girls State.
Last year, the chamber sponsored one boy to attend Boys State and the district asked the board if it could do so once again for the 2022 year.
According to the request, Girls State is $300 per delegate, and Boys State is $500 per delegate. Multiple members talked about their experience with the program when they were in high school and what was expected of them before and after attending the event.
Eventually, the board decided on sponsoring a female student to attend Girls State. With the understanding that the group had sponsored a boy to attend the previous year, members thought it would be a good idea to sponsor a young girl at California schools.
The student is expected to visit the chamber with a presentation of her experience after returning home from the event. The board said this was previously asked from last year's recipient, but a presentation was not given. With that in mind, the chamber asked that the next student come to see them with a detailed explanation of her time.
Members approved the $300 sponsorship and moved on to discussion about the California Area Chamber of Commerce's annual dinner meeting. According to President Kayle Kiesling, plans for the dinner are coming along nicely. However, she asked members for more donations for the Piccadilly auction to have all the gifts necessary for the event.
The annual dinner meeting will be at 5:30 p.m. Saturday at Sweet Chipotle. Tickets will be $25 per person and funds from the auction will go to a good cause.