Minnesota Students Selected for United States Senate Youth Program
MINNEAPOLIS – The United States Senate Youth Program (USSYP) announces that high school students Sydney McGrath and Deepti Pillai will join Senator Amy Klobuchar and Senator Tina Smith in representing Minnesota during the 62nd annual USSYP Washington Week, to be held March 2-9, 2024.
Sydney McGrath, of Minneapolis, and Deepti Pillai, of Eden Prairie, were selected from among the state’s top student leaders to be part of the 104 national student delegation. Each delegate will also receive a $10,000 college scholarship for undergraduate study.
Each year this 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 delegates more profound knowledge of the American political process and a lifelong commitment to public service.
Sydney McGrath, a senior at Roosevelt High School, serves as the president of the National Honor Society. Since elementary school, she has attended her district's Spanish Immersion Program, allowing her to become fluent in Spanish and become a global minded citizen. She is deeply committed to her community, and serves as a student ambassador event leader and participates in Spanish Debate. She is a welcoming point of contact for incoming students, their families and alumni. Outside of school, Sydney is the service commissioner at her church. Her research has earned her the opportunity to attend three National History Day competitions, and her interest in women's health and fitness led her to publish a book on weightlifting for women. She hopes to combine her passion for women's health and her Spanish language skills to create policies that make healthcare more accessible, affordable and reliable. Sydney plans to attend medical school after majoring in molecular, cellular and developmental biology at an east coast college.
Deepti Pillai, a senior at Minnetonka High School, serves as president of the Student Body, the first female South Asian student elected to this role. She has dedicated her time to advocating for and promoting equal educational opportunity and to associating diversity with positivity in her district. Her interest in equitable education led her to found the Minnetonka Coalition for Equitable Education (MCEE), an organization that has advocated for new policies at the school board level and engaged students through outreach, demonstrations and dialogue. Deepti interned for Congressman Dean Phillips where she engaged constituents in discourse and learned more about the political landscape. She also interned for two professors at the University of Minnesota researching the rise of right-wing ideologies in America. She has received five Presidential Volunteer Service Awards, helped plan multiple school events and fundraisers, and is proud to have organized Minnetonka High School’s now annual cultural fair. She also leads her school’s Desi Student Union, Youth in Government chapter, and Model UN team. Deepti plans to study political science and public policy in college in conjunction with exploring cognitive science, linguistics and gender studies. She hopes to foster an inclusive, open-minded and collaborative mindset within the government, dedicating her life to service.
Alternates to the 2024 program are Elif L. Ozturk, a resident of Golden Valley, who attends Hopkins High School and Aisha Mohamed Ibrahim, a resident of Eagan, who attends Eagan High School.
Delegates and alternates are selected by the state departments of education nationwide and the District of Columbia and Department of Defense Education Activity, after nomination by teachers and principals.
During the program week, the student delegates attend meetings and briefings with senators, the president, a justice of the Supreme Court, and leaders of cabinet agencies, among others.
For more information please visit: https://ussenateyouth.org/.
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