2 TSD Seniors Selected for United States Senate Youth Program

Troy School district seniors Sarayu Sitha Bethamcherla (THS) and Jayanti Gupta (IAE) have been selected from among the state’s top student leaders for the prestigious United States Senate Youth Program (USSYP). Bethamcherla and Gupta are two of 104 scholars from across the country (2 per state) who will each receive a $10,000 college scholarship for undergraduate study. They will also join Senator Debbie Stabenow and Senator Gary Peters in representing Michigan during the 60th annual USSYP Washington Week, to be held virtually March 6 — 9, 2022. “Only two students are chosen from each state,” said TSD Superintendent Dr. Rich Machesky, “That both students to represent Michigan are Troy School District students is an immense point of pride for the district as well as for the City of Troy.”

Sarayu Bethamcherla, a senior at Troy High School, serves as vice president of the Student Body. She holds the highest student leadership position in the state as the Michigan Association of Student Councils and Honors Societies Student Board of Delegates president. Through facilitating regional and statewide conferences, she aids leaders in realizing and acting on their passion for the community. Additionally, she works for the National Equity Project and serves as a youth leader for her district’s Equity Board where she established a platform for students to voice concerns about educational inequity. Sarayu is a Board of Education student representative, an advisor on the Superintendent’s Student Advisory Board for Troy, and the DECA chapter co-president, a youth organization focused on entrepreneurship. She also advocates for gun violence prevention on the “March For Our Lives” state team. The lasting impact of service and centering youth vision is what inspires her to pursue a career in human rights law and eventually, public office.

Jayanti Gupta, a senior at International Academy East High School, serves as the state director of Michigan for March For Our Lives. As an intersectional organizer, she actively advocates for gun violence prevention through community-based work, uplifts marginalized voices by speaking on reproductive justice panels with nonprofits like The National State Board of Education, and works with organizations like Rising Voices, which aims to increase civic engagement amongst Asian-American Michiganders. She was recognized by The Brooklyn Kiwanis for her exemplary community service. Her passion for public service extends to politics where she has worked on several political campaigns including those of President Joe Biden and Representative Haley Stevens. Jayanti plans to study political science, nonprofit management, and law to better serve the community she calls home.

Each year this extremely competitive merit-based program brings the most outstanding high school students - two from each state, the District of Columbia and the Department of Defense Education Activity - to Washington, D.C. for an intensive week-long (virtual) study of the federal government and the people who lead it. The mission of the program for the past 60 years has been to instill within each class of USSYP student delegates more profound knowledge of the American political process and a lifelong commitment to public service. For more information please visit: www.ussenateyouth.org

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Photos of Sarayu Sitha Bethamcherla and Jayanti Gupta courtesy of the Troy School District