Georgia announces Delegates for U.S. Senate Youth Program

The Georgia Department of Education announced the students selected as Georgia’s delegates and alternates to the 2025 United States Senate Youth Program (USSYP). Mr. Jaylin Deshawn Hillsman (A.R. Johnson Health, Science, and Engineering Magnet High School, Richmond County School System) and Ms. Vivian Reyes Martinez (Adairsville High School, Bartow County School System) will join Senator Jon Ossoff and Senator Raphael Warnock in representing Georgia during the 63rd annual USSYP Washington Week, to be held March 1-8, 2025. Mr. Avenn Rashad Smith (Monroe Comprehensive High School, Dougherty County School System) and Ms. Moatapari Dawud Agbere (Chattahoochee County High School, Chattahoochee County Schools) were chosen as alternates for the 2025 program. “Congratulations to Jaylin and Vivian on their selection as Georgia’s delegates to the 2025 United States Senate Youth Program and Avenn and Moatapari as alternates,” State School Superintendent Richard Woods said. “Their commitment to leadership, academic excellence, and civic engagement is truly commendable. I have no doubt they will represent Georgia with distinction during this prestigious program. We are proud of their accomplishments and look forward to seeing the impact they will continue to make in their schools, communities, and beyond.” Each year, the USSYP 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 study of the federal government and the people who lead it. During the program week, the student delegates will attend meetings and briefings with senators, the president, a Supreme Court justice, and cabinet agencies’ leaders, among others. The program’s overall mission 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. Georgia’s delegates will join a 104-student delegation and receive a $10,000 college scholarship for undergraduate study. The USSYP was created by Senate Resolution 324 in 1962, has been sponsored by the Senate, and has been fully funded by The Hearst Foundations since its inception.