Harrison High School Senior Selected For US Senate Youth Program

HARRISON, NY — A Harrison High School senior with an already impressive list of accomplishments is planning a virtual trip to the nation's capital after being selected to represent New York in the highly competitive U.S. Senate Youth Program.

Jack Kelly will join Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer and Senator Kirsten Gillibrand at the 60th annual U.S. Senate Youth Program (USSYP) Washington Week events next month.

Kelly, a senior at Harrison High School, is the vice chairman of the Westchester County Youth Board. He also served as the National Young Progressives director for the Biden for President campaign and is currently a senior advisor for the Progressive Change Campaign Committee where he is supporting Mandela Barnes’ campaign for United States Senate. As a passionate gun violence prevention activist, he is the New York organizing director of March of Our Lives and is a published contributing textbook author on the topic of gun violence prevention.

Kelly's other listed accomplishments include being interviewed by CNN, Politico and The Journal News on the subject of his political activism. He was a guest speaker at New York University on community organizing and has won "best delegate awards" from Harvard, Princeton and Columbia model congresses.

Washington Week will be held March 6 through March 9. Kelly and the state's other youth representative Henry Reichman of Delmar were selected from among the state’s top student leaders to be part of the 104 national student delegation who will each also receive a $10,000 college scholarship for undergraduate study.

Because of the ongoing pandemic, the 2022 program will be held online, through a comprehensive and highly interactive virtual education and leadership forum, according to organizers.

The USSYP was created by Senate Resolution 324 in 1962 and has been sponsored by the Senate and fully funded by The Hearst Foundations since inception. Originally proposed by Senators Kuchel, Mansfield, Dirksen and Humphrey, the Senate leadership of the day, the impetus for the program as stated in Senate testimony is "to increase young Americans’ understanding of the interrelationships of the three branches of government, learn the caliber and responsibilities of federally elected and appointed officials, and emphasize the vital importance of democratic decision making not only for America but for people around the world, according to organizers.

Each year this extremely competitive merit-based program provides the most outstanding high school students - two from each state, the District of Columbia and the Department of Defense Education Activity - with an intensive week-long study of the federal government and the people who lead it.

The overall mission of the program is to help instill within each class of USSYP student delegates more profound knowledge of the American political process and a lifelong commitment to public service. In addition to the program week, The Hearst Foundations provide each student with a $10,000 undergraduate college scholarship with encouragement to continue coursework in government, history and public affairs. All expenses for Washington Week are also provided by The Hearst Foundations; as stipulated in S.Res.324, no government funds are utilized.