Powell High School will enjoy the honor of being represented in Washington D.C. this March.

For the second consecutive year, a PHS student will go to the nation’s capital to represent their family, school and community.

Senior Hattie Pimentel will travel to Washington D.C., March 3-10 for the United States Youth Senate Program.

“It’s a pretty prestigious program that is run nationwide,” PHS counselor Mrs. Kara Miller said. “It’s only offered through the principal.

“So the principals receive notification of it and we seek out students that really have shown promise in either their student council or leadership in certain extracurricular activities. This program is opened up to every student, and students who are interested and who qualify in the criteria will randomly chose an essay prompt.

Pimentel and Thomas Lubnau from Campbell County High School are the two Wyoming candidates.

One of the criteria for students for the program is to be actively involved in their student council or to hold a leadership position in any extracurricular activity.

Pimentel is on the Powell High School Robotics team, she plays on the tennis team and is a member of the school’s National Honor Society. In the past she has been involved in the school’s drone project, and she has participated in Math Counts.

“I like to be involved because it makes school a lot more interesting and more fun,” Pimentel said.

Besides being involved in the school, each candidate had to write an essay based on a prompt they were assigned.

“There were 15 different prompts, and you were assigned one randomly,” Pimentel said. “So I did a little research for each one, and I actually ended up with a pretty easy one.”

In Washington, the students will have the opportunity at a firsthand experience of the daily inner workings of the U.S. Government. They will also see the Capitol building, build leadership skills and might even see a few officials.

“I think it will be really cool to just learn about our government and see more of the different parts of it,” Pimentel said. “I might also get to meet some pretty important people.”

She also has big plans for her future.

“I want to get a bachelor’s degree in computer science and then maybe go on to get a law degree and maybe then become a lawyer,” Pimentel said.

She expects this experience to support her future plans.

“I just want to see the people involved; what they’re like and how they approach their jobs,” Pimentel said.

The U.S. Senate Youth Program is open to any students how are interested, as long as they meet the criteria. If after reading this story questions arise, talk to Hattie Pimentel or the school counselors.