It’s Time to Start Recruiting
Beryl Robbins, Chairman
Your ALA Girls State Committee met on August 11th to begin planning for our 86th annual ALA Girls State program. Our program is scheduled for June 13-19, 2027, on the campus of Michigan State University. The 2027 pledge form, reservation form and flyers have been updated and are available on our website for your use: https://michalaux.org/girls-state/. Please check it regularly for additional updates!
Please note that the Committee recommended increasing the reservation fee to $450; it was proposed to the DEC, an email vote was held, and the increase passed by a 2/3s margin. It does not affect the registration fee; students will still be required to pay $25 to register. We encourage you to use our pledge form as soon as your ALA District or ALA Unit makes the decision to sponsor one or more students for the 2027 ALA Girls State program. This form is simple to complete and extremely useful when we’re trying to locate sponsors for students who apply to our program from your area.
Our 2026 ALA Girls State application included your delegates’ high school counselor’s name and email address. This tool helps you recruit students for 2027 by providing a contact person at schools in your area. Contact those counselors in September, let them know you sponsored one of their students in 2026, provide the application flyer and ask them to share it with students they believe would be a great fit for our program. Contact the student(s) you sponsored and ask them to help recruit students. If you did not retain their applications, contact me, and I can provide that information. If your ALA Unit or District did not sponsor a student last year, I can provide you with the name and contact information for every principal and superintendent in the State of Michigan.
We have placed an order for additional fleece jackets that we plan on selling at Fall Conference. To guarantee we have one in your size, please contact me to pre-order! Please remember, they seem to run a little small, so many members purchased a size larger than they normally wear when we sold them at the last Winter meeting.
As a fundraiser for 2027, we will be raffling an impressive, hand-made, twin-bed-size quilt for a $5 ticket. A picture of the quilt design is included with this article. The winning ticket will be drawn at the Winter Meeting in February 2027. Tickets will be available at the Fall Conference for you to purchase, or you can check out a batch to sell to your District and Unit members.