ROCKCASTLE COUNTY, Ky. (LEX News) — Forty students in the Christian Appalachian Project's Youth Enrichment Services program will travel to Washington, D.C., Oct. 4–8 for an experience their program director says could change how they see their own futures.
Tina Bryson, CAP director of communications, said the trip gives young people from the region access to places and experiences they may not otherwise encounter.
"It's always important to give young people an opportunity to expand their horizons. So, for many of these young people, this will be their first trip to the nation's capital to walk in places that they've read about in books," Bryson said.
Among the students making the trip is Rockcastle County High School senior Jordan Weaver, who said he is especially looking forward to visiting memorials honoring those who served.
"I'm more looking forward to the Vietnam and the Veterans Museum because a lot of my family are veterans, so I get to enjoy seeing what they went through," Weaver said.
Madison Central sophomore Arryuanna Rhodus said she sees the trip as a chance to bring something meaningful back to the people she loves.
"I think it's going to be like a really great opportunity for myself, something I can bring home to family and friends and just share that experience with," Rhodus said.
For students like Weaver and Rhodus, their future careers are still a question mark, but opportunities like this open up doors for kids in Appalachia to things they may not have considered and what could be next in their future.
Bryson said the trip also connects students to the real-world workings of government in a way that feels personal.
"They actually get to go and see where laws are being made, laws that impact them right here in Kentucky, and so I think it's important for them to have that real world experience and then to bring that back to their peers and to their community," Bryson said.
Rhodus echoed the importance of adults investing in young people.
"People who care about like the youth and how they grow up, I think that's really important," Rhodus said.
CAP is always looking for donors to help support the next generation of students. Bryson said the impact of experiences like this extends far beyond the trip itself.
"Those are life changing experiences that will stay with them for a lifetime and hopefully they'll be able to pay it forward not only when they come back but in wherever the journey takes them from this point forward," Bryson said.
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