On Thursday, December 3, three of the Florence Rotary Club’s Interactors along with their advisor, Barbara Rahn, will be traveling to Louisville in order to participate in the Kentucky Youth Assembly (KYA).
Rahn is Interact chair for Rotary District 6740 and advisor to the club.
“The Kentucky Youth Assembly (KYA) is a 3-day experiential learning program in which students serve as part of a model state government,” said Rahn. “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.
At KYA, students participate in one of the Program Areas at the Assembly based on their grade and experience. Those programs are Legislative, Premiere, Media Corps, Judicial, Lobbyists or Congressional.
Each program area is led by Presiding and Supporting Officers and has a variety of Delegate Roles available to participants. First year as well as experienced delegates research, write, and debate bills on state issues as Senators and Representatives.
Media delegates craft compelling news stories on important Assembly topics. Media Corps members publish their stories on the KYAs app, web blog, and video platforms. Judicial delegates serve as advocates presenting oral arguments before the KYA Supreme Court made up of student Justices, and also advise the Attorney General on the constitutionality of bills passed by the Legislative program. Lobbyist delegates represent clients by using advocacy and networking to influence debate in the Legislative program and persuade Cabinet Secretaries to support their positions.
As members of Congress, experienced delegates research, write, and debate bills on national policy issues. Each Congressional delegate sponsors their own Congressional Bill. There are no Presiding or Supporting Officer positions for the Congressional program; chairs are chosen from within the KYA program.
The Interact Club of Boone County’s participants this year are Kaelley Shouse, Emily Hardesty and Owen Hardesty, club president. Their bill proposes that ALL high school graduates must complete CPR/AED training as part of their graduation requirements. CPR/AED training would be considered a component of the health curriculum; and, would necessitate proof that the student has completed the training, i.e. a written test. However, students would not have to be certified in order to satisfy the graduation guidelines.
Since its chartering on September 18, 2012, the Interact Club of Boone County has completed nearly two service projects each month locally including imitating cows for the clients of an equine therapy program, sorting clothes or food items at a clothing/food distribution warehouse, removing trash or other debris from an underfunded state park, serving meals to the homeless at a “soup kitchen,” playing games with the residents of a teen shelter as well as two international service projects in the Dominican Republic alongside their fellow Dominican Interactors and Rotarians.
From Florence Rotary Club