Why do you come to KYA?
Students from all across the commonwealth of Kentucky have come to KYA, a 3-day conference in which students are given the opportunity to participate in a model state government. For some, KYA is a brand new experience, while others have been coming here for years. Each student brings a unique background to the conference, able to safely their beliefs on how to make Kentucky a better place to live. There are varying reasons as to why they have come. Here are a few students thoughts on why they decided to come to KYA:
“Just because my friends said it was fun and a really cool experience…” said Shelby County sophomore, Clinton Southworth. Southworth is a first timer to KYA and also sponsoring a bill, “They said it would be really fun…” he added in response to the question, why did you decide to sponsor a bill your first year? Southworth is sponsoring a bill along with fellow sophomores, Isaac Clark and Peyton York.
“I have come to KYA since sixth grade and I just really love the experience,” said Clark, “I have sponsored bills in the past and they haven’t done as well as I hoped they would do, so this year I hope to get it where it is good.”
York had a similar response, “I’ve been before. It’s just a fun experience. I mean you go, you debate bills, and I find that fun.”
A few Commonwealth candidates also weighed in on why they came to KYA:
“It’s something that I’ve always done. I was able to come with my mom since I was six months old, she’s been our advisor…so it’s just something that I’ve always grown up with,” answered Koby Batts from Hopkinsville High School.
“To come and share my beliefs, especially like the governor pointed out in his speech, [we are] becoming so divided and the political tensions are so high and I just wanted to bring simple platforms that we all agree on to this conference because…right now I think unity is just what our state needs…you can’t improve and make progress if you’re not a unified commonwealth,” shared Catherine McAninch from Casey County High School.
