Senate Youth Program opens applications

Special to the Canton News

U.S. Senators Roger Wicker (R-Miss.) and Cindy Hyde-Smith (R-Miss.) are encouraging high school juniors and seniors in Mississippi to apply to represent the state at the 60th annual United States Senate Youth Program (USSYP) Washington Week.

Two students selected for the 2022 USSYP Washington Week will each receive an all-expense-paid trip to Washington, D.C., and a $10,000 undergraduate college scholarship.  This year’s program will be March 5-12, 2022.

“The U.S. Senate Youth Program brings some of America's most promising young leaders together to explore future careers in public service and engage with representatives from each of our branches of government,” Wicker said. “I highly encourage all eligible Mississippi students to apply for this once-in-a-lifetime experience.”

“The United States Senate Youth Program offers opportunities for a couple of Mississippi’s brightest, community-minded students to interact with national leaders and their peers from around the country.  I hope many students in Mississippi will apply for the 2022 program,” Hyde-Smith said.

In addition to outstanding leadership abilities and a strong commitment to volunteer work, USSYP delegates generally rank high academically in their states among high school juniors and seniors.

The USSYP brings the highest-level officials from each branch of government to meet with high school juniors or seniors representing all fifty states, the District of Columbia, and the Department of Defense Education Activity.  The weeklong education and leadership program includes meetings with Senators, the President, cabinet secretaries, a justice of the Supreme Court, senior members of the national media, and other key policymakers.  The Hearst Foundation fully funds and administers the USSYP without the use of any government funding.

Interested students and educators can visit www.ussenateyouth.org for more information. 

The deadline to apply for the USSYP program in Mississippi is October 1, 2021.

Applicants may also contact their high school principal or Mississippi’s state-level selection administrator: Mrs. Sandra Hilliard, Education Specialist, Sr., Mississippi Department of Education, at shilliard@mdek12.org.

Mississippi’s 2021 USSYP delegates were Jacob Pearson of Corinth and Weston “Archer” Taylor of Petal.