Pike County American Legion Post 197 recently sponsored two upcoming seniors from Pike County High School for the Girls State session at Valdosta State University in June. Maya Gales and Aislinn Reyes joined hundreds of other young ladies for Georgia’s 2025 Girls State session. Each summer, around 20,000 participate in Girls State sessions across the nation. At Girls State, the student citizens study local, county and state government processes. They do this by setting up their own miniature city, county, and state governments and administering them according to the laws of their particular states.
“Post 197 sent two girls from Pike County to Girls State and two boys (Straud Searcy and Robert Hancher) to Boys State and one girl (Helen ‘Hattie’ Stover) to Girls State from Lamar County. Community donations throughout the year make this possible,” said Post 197’s Girls/Boys State coordinator Bryan Richardson. “Post 197 is truly grateful to the community. This coming January is when Post 197 will seek candidates for the Georgia Boys/Girls State for 2026.”
After arriving at Girls State, the citizens are divided into two political parties, often named the Nationalists and the Federalists. These parties do not reflect the two major political parties in today’s system of government. The parties allow citizens to gain a special knowledge of how a two-party system operates.
Girls State citizens participate in these mock political parties and elections are held to fill city, county and state positions. Activities include legislative sessions, campaigning, party rallies, debating and voting. The citizens receive special instruction in Parliamentary Procedure. The delegates learn government processes by doing.
Maya Gales
Maya Gales was placed in Mitchell City in Walton County and served as chairman for the city board, running the city elections. She also ran for the clerk of court position for her county.
“We got to learn how bills are written and passed in real life,” said Maya. “It was cool to get together with girls from across the state and create our own government and then make and pass our own bills. I also enjoyed the times we got together and played music and sang.”
Maya also made a friend named Amelia who started and promoted the Purple Movement.
“Basically, she thought that people need to be more unified and instead of being strictly red or blue, we all need to be some shade of purple.”
Maya said the most challenging part of Girls State was giving speeches and she had to deliver two speeches in front of her county (more than 60 girls) and one in front of her city (of 23 girls).
Maya is currently dual enrolled at Gordon State College in Barnesville. After graduating from PCHS, Maya hopes to attend the University of Georgia and major in either law or business.
Maya is the daughter of Chris and Lori Gales of Zebulon and the sister of Valerie, Brian and Dalton Gales.
Aislinn Reyes
Aislinn Reyes was placed in Irwin City in Hall County and served on the city council. She didn’t run for a county office since she wanted to run for a Supreme Court justice seat. She was one of the finalists in the election for that seat, with seven Federalists and seven Nationalists vying for the position.
“My mom is a lawyer and she has been a significant inspiration for me. However, my own career path is leaning towards business, where I aim to build upon and expand my dad’s company, Alex Pools and Spas, ensuring his legacy continues to thrive.”
Aislinn is currently dual enrolled at Georgia Military College in Zebulon. She plans to attend Georgia State University where she plans to go into finance or marketing or pursue a business degree. She said Girls State was an incredible opportunity to learn about government.
“Girls State taught us a lot and when we leave high school, we will be 18 and old enough to vote. Unfortunately, only around 47 percent of young adults from 18 to 29 years old bother to vote on the State of Georgia. I believe that Girls state is a great program for us high schoolers. After going through the session, we will be able to understand and have more knowledge about our government and how the law works,” she said. “I especially liked getting to meet girls from all over Georgia. Everyone had diverse ideas and were able to share them eloquently in the process of making our own government. I even met one girl who had debated at Harvard.”
Aislinn is the daughter of Alex Reyes and Mary Cruz and the sister of David, Alix and Alejandro.
Each year American Legion Post 197 sponsors boys and girls to attend the Boys State and Girls State sessions in Georgia.
“This program offers training in the practical processes of self-government and good citizenship as practiced in a democratic society,” said Post 197’s Richardson. “This learning experience better familiarizes the participants with their duties as United States citizens and encourages their participation in the democratic process as they progress into adulthood. This is a truly great program and we hope to get another great group of high school juniors next year.”
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