A Jamesville-DeWitt Central School District high school student is one of two New York state students recently selected to participate in the United States Senate Youth Program, a competitive merit-based program that brings the nation’s most outstanding high school students to Washington, D.C. for an intensive week-long study of the federal government.
Jamesville-DeWitt High School senior Maxwell Mimaroglu was selected from among the state’s top student leaders to be part of a 104 national student delegation. Maxwell will join Sen. Charles E. Schumer and Sen. Kirsten E. Gillibrand in representing New York during the 59th annual United States Senate Youth Program (USSYP) Washington Week, which due to the COVID-19 pandemic, will be held virtually March 14-17.
During the week, the student delegates will attend online meetings and briefings with senators, the president, a Supreme Court justice, leaders of cabinet agencies and senior members of the national media, among others, according to the United States Senate Youth Program.
In addition to participating in the program week, Maxwell will receive a $10,000 undergraduate college scholarship from The Hearst Foundations, which funds the program.
State departments of education nationwide and the District of Columbia and Department of Defense Education Activity selected the program participants. J-D High School Principal Paul Gasparini wrote a letter of recommendation for Maxwell.
“I’m excited to learn more about the U.S. Senate, to have an opportunity to engage with other passionate youth from across the world and to explore a future role in government,” Maxwell said.
The other New York student selected to participate is Katerina Corr, a senior at Stuyvesant High School in New York City.
In addition to outstanding leadership abilities and a strong commitment to volunteer work, the student delegates rank academically in the top 1% of their states among high school juniors and seniors, according to the United States Senate Youth Program.
Maxwell is currently serving a one-year term as a student board member on the J-D Board of Education. They are also a Boy Scout Life Scout, the co-founder of National Die-In to combat the firearm crisis, a co-organizer of the Syracuse March for Our Lives and the Syracuse Women’s March and the vice president of the Gender-Sexuality Alliance.
Maxwell’s college and future plans include study in political science, earning a Juris Doctor degree and some form of public service as a congressional staffer and/or advocacy in a political nonprofit.
Maxwell has also served as director of communications in the county for a state legislature campaign and as a field organizer for 2018 Congressional candidate Dana Balter and the Mike Bloomberg campaign. They were a Senate Page in the 2019-20 program and have volunteered locally at the Food Bank of Central New York, OGs Against Gun Violence and We Rise Above the Streets.