Meadows Senior Selected for United States Senate Youth Program

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Jan 23, 2024, 14:00 ET

LAS VEGAS, Jan. 23, 2024 /PRNewswire/ -- The United States Senate Youth Program (USSYP) announces that high school students Robert Barsel and Max Grinstein will join Senator Cortez Masto and Senator Rosen in representing Nevada during the 62nd annual USSYP Washington Week, to be held March 2 — 9, 2024. Barsel of Las Vegas and Grinstein of Reno were selected from among the state's top student leaders to be part of the 104 national student delegation.

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. 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."

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.

In addition to outstanding leadership abilities and a strong commitment to volunteer work, student delegates rank academically in the top one percent of their states among high school juniors and seniors.

Robert Barsel, a senior at The Meadows School, serves as an officer in the National Stem Honor Society. He founded a nonprofit organization, Coping Kids, to improve children's mental health, has raised $32,000 in grants and donations, and offers free resources through the website such as mental health tools, support group tutorial for teachers, and various community resources to students. He was appointed by Governor Lombardo to serve as the student representative on the Nevada State Committee on School Safety which works to support student and teacher mental health in public schools and provide official policy recommendations concerning school safety. He drafted and presented Senate Bill 313 in the 2023 Nevada legislative session to increase mental health education for students and teachers. Robert has authored a book for teenagers, available for free, entitled "Everyone Has Mental Health", and wrote, cast, directed, and acted in a training video to teach how to offer a safe and effective mental health support group. The book is being used in seven schools, in three states and has been downloaded over 2,800 times since last year. Robert volunteers with multiple organizations and is the varsity tennis team captain. He would like to major in biomedical engineering and philosophy and become a professor of pharmaceutical biology after earning a PhD.

Contacts

The Meadows School
Lauren Walker
Director of Marketing & Communications
[email protected]

United States Senate Youth Program
Rayne Guilford
Program Director
[email protected]

SOURCE The Meadows School