19 UHA Middle School students participated in the Kentucky Youth Assembly (KYA) in Louisville on November 5-7. KYA is a 3-day experiential learning program in which students serve as part of a model state government. KYA offers students the opportunity to learn about a wide variety of issues, develop critical thinking skills, and articulate their beliefs while engaging constructively with their peers from around the Commonwealth. UHA students participated in writing, researching and presenting their own bills in Committees and in the House & Senate, as well as ranking and voting on other delegation’s bills, attending General Session meetings, a trip to the Capitol building in Frankfort to debate in the Kentucky House of Representatives and Senate, and some fun mixed in, as well.
UHA won a Delegation of Excellence Award and one of our 8th Grade Delegates, Brianne Lacefield (above) won an Outstanding Delegate Award.
Left to right: Sloan Hampton, Emily Grise, Alison Craig, & Rheagan Lindsey
Our Bluegrass Bill Team, which consisted of 8th Graders Alison Craig and Emily Grise and 7th graders, Rheagan Lindsey and Sloan Hampton (pictured above), also was ranked in the top half of the Bluegrass Bills and was debated at the Capitol Annex in Frankfort, where it was only 1 of 14 bills (out of 37) that passed the House and Senate and was signed into law by the KYA Governor. Their bill was an Act to Require a Life Skills Class as a Graduation Requirement. Only a fraction of bills presented at KYA get signed into law, so this was a HUGE accomplishment, especially for our Bluegrass team, which are the younger and/or less experienced KYA delegates. They worked hard and certainly earned this victory.
Front row, left to right: Sarah Peebles, Evelyn Cotthoff, Riley Bailey, Hannah Jane Holland, Gargi Shah, Emily Grise, Lauren Sisk
Middle row, left to right: Rheagan Lindsey, Haiden Hauret, Margaret Rinehart, Alison Craig, Brianne Lacefield, Emma Perry, Sloan Hampton
Back row, left to right: Riley Staton, Vallie Smith, Ethan Alexander, Piper Hancock, Olivia Smiley
Students that attended KYA are as follows:
Bluegrass Delegates
Riley Bailey- 6th Grade
Evelyn Cotthoff – 6th Grade
Sarah Peebles- 6th Grade
Margaret Rinehart- 6th Grade
Gargi Shah – 6th Grade
Sloan Hampton – 7th Grade – Bill Writer
Hannah Jane Holland- 7th Grade
Rheagan Lindsey – 7th Grade- Bill Writer
Olivia Smiley – 7th Grade
Alison Craig – 8th Grade – Bill Writer
Emily Grise- 8th Grader – Bill Writer
Riley Staton – 8th Grader
Commonwealth Delegates
Ethan Alexander- 8th Grade- Bill Writer
Piper Hancock – 8th Grade- Bill Writer
Haiden Hauret- 8th Grade
Brianne Lacefield- 8th Grader- Bill Writer
Emma Perry – 8th Grader
Lauren Sisk – 8th Grade – Bill Writer
Vallie Smith -8th Grade