North Egypt News

Sen. Dale Fowler (R-Harrisburg) hosted the annual Youth Advisory Council event on March 15 for 20 high schools in the 59th district for students to learn about leadership, state government and public policy. 

"We had a great Youth Advisory event today with 20 schools participating. Thank you for each and every student who took the time to join. Also, a huge thank you to our speakers for the day who brought their experiences to the conversation," Fowler said in a March 15 Facebook post. "We were fortunate to have Jeff McGoy, the Director of Exploratory Student Advisement Center for Learning Support Services at Southern Illinois University; Dale Righter, Chief of Staff of the Illinois State Senate Republican Caucus; Colleen Callahan, Director of the Illinois Department of Natural Resources; and Patrick Barry, lobbyist at Phelps Barry & Associates join us as speakers today!"

Participating students were selected upon recommendations from area administrators and local educators, a Daily Republican News article said.

Fowler educated the students on his own personal experience as an area businessman, philanthropist, as well as a state legislator. 

Students were then asked to participate in a roundtable discussion about which regional careers and educational pursuits seem to be the biggest challenge for them. 

In previous years, students have been able to visit the capitol for this event, but due to the virus, students were unable to attend legislative sessions or participate in a mock Senate committee hearing as before.