Knightly News

2021 was a banner year for the high school Youth Legislature club at Episcopal! Bills authored by Kathy Hu and Sophia Horridge as well as those by Thomas O’Connor, Carter McLean, Ruby Friloux and Emily Berg were all passed by the legislature and signed by the Governor. Eleventh grader Thomas O’Connor was selected as the “Outstanding Delegate” for his Senate chamber, and eleventh grader Carter McLean was elected House Speaker Pro Tempore. Tenth grader Joey Roth’s bill made it out of committee and was one of only a handful of bills debated at the plenary session by the full conference on Sunday morning. After a lively debate, Roth’s bill was passed on Sunday and approved by a large majority of the state senators and representatives. 

Eleven of the team’s bills made it out of their House or Senate committee, a record for Episcopal. In the House of Representatives the bills that made it out of committee included Ryan Asefi and Hayden Singh’s bill on HOV lanes, Davis Eglin’s voting rights bill, Kathy Hu and Sophia Horridge’s bill on reforming education funding, Carter McLean’s bill on gerrymandering and ranked choice voting, and Shreya Kamath and Sarah Theriot’s pro-choice bill. Representatives Isabella Civello and Glynes Hill authored a bill banning the use of aspartame that generated lively debate and passed out of committee. Tenth graders Avery Kyle and Ramsey Claire Greene successfully shepherded their bill on affordable driving out of committee. First time delegate Riley Posey had her bill on prioritizing Louisiana citizens for homeless shelters pass out of committee. Ninth grade representatives Miniya Malone and Savanna Baker, who were first-time representatives, also succeeded in getting their bill on reducing oil production and promoting green energy approved by their committee. 

Malone and Baker’s bill was passed by the full legislature, as was Davis Eglin’s bill, and Kamath and Theriot’s. Hu and Horridge were able to successfully argue for their bill’s constitutionality before the Supreme Court.

On the Senate side of the Legislature, Episcopal also enjoyed great success. Veteran legislator and eleventh grader Thomas O’Connor shepherded his bill on ending states of emergency out of his committee. Seniors Emily Berg and Ruby Friloux successfully passed their bill on gender identity and drivers licenses out of their Senate committee. O’Connor successfully defended his bill from a Supreme Court challenge. Both Senate bills were approved by the whole legislature on Saturday and then signed by the Governor on Sunday. 

Eleventh grader Carter McLean had been chosen as one of two nominees for Speaker of the House of Representatives at the Baton Rouge pre-Leg meeting in October. At this weekend’s conference, McLean gave a well-prepared and polished campaign speech. He was elected by fellow delegates to serve on the state board next year and serve as Speaker of the House Pro Tempore for next year’s conference.

Episcopal’s Youth Legislature team this year included ninth graders Savanna Baker and Miniya Malone; tenth graders Kathy Hu, Avery Kyle, Ramsey Claire Greene, Hayden Singh, Riley Posey, Isabella Civello, Glynes Hill, and Joey Roth; eleventh graders Sophia Horridge, Suzie Heneghan, Thomas O’Connor, Shreya Kamath, Carter McLean, and Sarah Theriot; twelfth graders Ruby Friloux, Ryan Asefi, Davis Eglin and Emily Berg. This was also the sixth year of sponsoring the Youth Legislature club for Dr. Kuhn and Dr. Way.

Although the conference was held virtually rather than at the state legislature as it has in the past, the students met at Penniman Hall on campus for the three days of the conference, which allowed them to strategize, coordinate, and support each other’s bills. In February students interested in public policy and debate will have a chance to help solve global problems at the Model United Nations conference. 

Dr. Edwin Way is an Upper School social studies teacher.  He earned a Bachelor of Arts in economics with high honors from Swarthmore College as well as a Master of Arts in East Asian studies from the University of Oregon. In addition, he completed a PhD in political science from Indiana University, Bloomington. He grew up overseas living in Egypt, Burkina Faso and Denmark, and worked and taught for a number of years in China. Edwin has taught at both the secondary and university level, and led several groups of college students on study abroad experiences in eastern China.

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