2024 HSLP: Day 5

High School Leadership Program Class of 2024
Day 5: Wednesday, July 17
Reported by: Kaden Thrasher, Fredericksburg Academy, Henry Dozier, St. Anne’s-Belfield, and Mira Masri, Charlottesville High School

Today, we woke up early, got on a bus, and headed about an hour to James Madison University. We went to X-labs and got the privilege to listen to two guest speakers. Our first guest speaker of the day was Carlos Aleman, a professor at James Madison University. He spoke to us about the Scholars Latino Initiative, which helps Latino/a/x students access college through mentorships, scholarships, and leadership development. He also discussed the importance of advocacy. The second speaker was Savanna Funkhouser, who is the Assistant Director of State Government Relations at James Madison University. Her discussion revolved around her job lobbying for JMU and her several interactions with government officials. Despite both speakers discussing completely different topics, both successfully engaged us and provoked thought about our government and advocacy in our community. For the second half of the day, we went from James Madison University to Cub Run Dairy farm. There, we listened to the owner of the farm, Gerald Heatwole, talk about the processes of his dairy farm, importance of family farms, and importance of healthy eating. Another speaker, Cory Guilliams from the Natural Resources Conservation Service, talked about his work for providing funding to farmers and educating us about environmental concerns and conservation. After the speakers, we were able to tour several parts of the farm. This included the cow and baby cow pens, plus where the cows were milked and the processing area for the milk. At the end of the tour, we gathered for a group photo and headed back to the bus after an educational and interactive day!