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Louisiana's Education Priorities
(BATON ROUGE, LA) - Two Louisiana high school students will join Senator Bill Cassidy and Senator John N. Kennedy in representing their state during the 63rd annual United States Senate Youth Program (USSYP) Washington Week March 1-8. Emily Nevils of Winnfield and Neal Tandon of Kenner were selected from among the state’s top student leaders to be part of the 104 national student delegation that will attend meetings and briefings with senators, the president, a justice of the Supreme Court, leaders of cabinet agencies, and other officials throughout the week. Each delegate will also receive a $10,000 college scholarship for undergraduate study.
Alternates for the 2025 program are Siyeon Joo, a resident of Lafayette, who attends Episcopal School of Acadiana and Walker John Prejean, also a resident of Lafayette, who attends Lafayette High.
"The republic endures when our citizens are knowledgeable and engaged,” said Louisiana State Superintendent of Education Dr. Cade Brumley, “This is a tremendous honor for these students and exemplifies how civics education prepares the next generation to uphold and protect the ideals of our Founding Fathers."
Emily Nevils, a senior at Winnfield High, serves as the Louisiana FFA state vice president. As a Louisiana FFA state officer, she has traveled the state advocating for agricultural education, met with legislators to advocate for the Farm Bill, and led educational camps for FFA members to enhance their leadership. Emily is also the parliamentarian on the Louisiana Legislative Youth Advisory Council and has helped to create and present bills to the Louisiana legislature on behalf of this organization. Emily hopes to attend Vanderbilt University and major in public policy with a minor in history. After earning her bachelor’s degree, she plans to attend Georgetown University’s law school to become an attorney in Washington, D.C. She would like to be appointed to the U.S. Circuit of Appeals and possibly the U.S. Supreme Court.
Neal Tandon, a senior at Haynes Academy, serves as chair of the Criminal Justice Committee on the Louisiana Legislative Youth Advisory Council (LYAC). With LYAC, he helped develop and testified for HB 577, a bill unanimously passed in both Louisiana chambers, addressing the teen mental health crisis by prohibiting social media companies from targeting advertising to minors. He is a co-president of the Haynes Academy Youth and Government program and on the Jefferson Parish Superintendent’s Student Leadership Council. In 2023, Neal was selected as Louisiana’s YMCA-USA national youth advocate, where he was able to lobby for multiple pieces of legislation regarding healthcare, civic engagement, and housing infrastructure. He hopes to major in political science and attend law school.
Each year this extremely competitive merit-based program provides two outstanding high school students 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. Each student will also receive a $10,000 undergraduate college scholarship with encouragement to continue coursework in government, history and public affairs.
