Two Malta students picked to attend Gov's conference

When Malta High School freshmen Bonnie Jones and Ben Costin were filling out applications for the Governor and First Lady Leadership Council conference last October, neither of them thought much more about it after they were done.

"I didn't think I was going," Jones admitted.

"I thought they would choose some of those 5.0, IQ guys," Costin added.

About two days later, a letter from First Lady Lisa Bullock arrived letting the two know they were picked and cordially invited to attend the Helena conference to both their amazement and excitement.

"We told Mrs. Bruce and Mrs. Bruce got excited and then we got excited," Costin explained.

"We started screaming and jumping up and down," Jones added.

As the chosen ones, Jones and Costin were taken to Helena two weekends ago by Becky Bruce – their FCCLA advisor who also teaches the duo Home Economics – to attend the all day conference.

Bonnie, the daughter of Bonnie Jones and Adrian Tremblay, and Costin – son of Colleen and Dave Costin – were two out of 20 students selected from around the State of Montana to be invited to attend the conference after answering six questions on the applications covering questions including "Describe some of the ways you would like to increase awareness of the problem of childhood hunger in your school" and "How will you devote the time, commitment, and leadership skills necessary to do a good job on the Governor and First Lady Youth Leadership Council?"

Costin has been to Helena many times prior to the trip to the conference as his grandmother lives there and he had a chance to previously visit the Capitol Building. Jones, born in Helena, said the trip to the Capitol Building was her first and she was not disappointed.

"It was huge," she said. "Lots of historical artifacts."

"Good lighting," Costin added. "We took a bunch of pictures."

Costin said the conference lasted from 9 a.m. until 3 p.m. During the day-long event, Costin and Jones got into groups to meet with their peers from across Montana before heading to the main conference.

"We learned about childhood hunger and there were guest speakers," Costin said.

Both Costin and Jones said that they left the conference very impassioned about childhood hunger and have started to plan events to help stamp it out.

"One in five kids in Montana are hungry," Costin said. "It's a problem that can be solved, it just takes a lot of work so we are planning a lot of stuff."

As their first event to help stamp out hunger, the FCCLA is hosting a Special Christmas Dinner before the MHS Band and Choir Concert on this Thursday, December 15, starting at 5:30 p.m. (the concert starts at 7 p.m.) Tickets for the event are $10 for adults, $5 for children ages 3 to 10 and free for children under 3. The night's menu will feature a soup and salad dinner, Christmas Dessert Sampling and Contest in which guests will vote for their favorite as well as Kids Crafts and an Ugly Sweater Contest. FCCLA is also asking for donations of non-perishable food items. Money raised and food donated will be donated to the Malta Food Bank.

Jones and Costin promised that as their mission becomes more clear and they have decided how they will take on the challenge (they have already started thinking about starting a food pantry at MHS and asking for volunteers) they will write stories for the Phillips County News to keep the public informed and up-to-date with projects.

"The whole thing really opened my eyes and made me start thinking about others more than myself," Jones said.