Smile Report: Unity Christian School’s Young America’s Foundation honored by national organization

Members of the national offices of the Young Americas Foundation traveled to Rome on Sunday to meet with the members of the Young American’s for Freedom chapter at Unity Christian School. Recent events planned by students at Unity caught the attention of national organizers, and they decided to take the time to meet those responsible.

The Young America’s Foundation is a conservative youth organization, founded in 1969, whose mission is to educate students about conservative principles through conferences and seminars, campus lectures, and campus activism.

The Young American’s for Freedom chapter at Unity has had a busy year supporting the vision of the foundation and promoting conservative values among their classmates and community.

In April, the chapter hosted Rome mayor Jamie Doss, and pastor Raphael Cruz for lectures to the student body. In September, students were joined by Representative Katie Dempsey to create a display of more than 3000 American flags on the front lawn of the school to commemorate 9/11 and launch a season of events and fundraising for the chapter.

Most recently, the chapter hosted Freedom Week on campus including a reenactment of the fall of the Berlin Wall and a school-wide Veterans Day chapel service. The chapel service included a video tribute to veterans with relation to the school and an address by Representative Eddie Lumsden who is also a veteran.

The centerpiece to the Veterans Day chapel was a wall of honor built recognizing the service and sacrifice of American veterans. In addition to the display, the chapter announced the establishment of a scholarship for the children of veterans and military personnel made possible by proceeds raised during construction of the wall.

Freedom Week events were held on more than 90 campuses around the nation. The success of the student led events at Unity caught the attention of the foundation’s leaders and led to recognition on the national website and a visit by foundation leaders.

According to the chapter’s vice chairman, Carson Earnest, “We met with Jolie Ballantyne, the director for the YAF conferences, and Haley Jones, their development officer. We shared with them a little about our organization. Mrs. Ballantyne thought we are doing a very good job considering we have over ten percent of the high school involved.”

“She shared stories with us about her time at Penn State and her history as a conservative. We got into several great discussions over important political issues such as minimum wage and free speech and the importance of standing up for one’s beliefs. Of course, we also shared our favorite 2016 presidential candidates.”

The visit was an honor for the students. They have demonstrated a commitment to the values of the Foundation, and put a lot of work into organizing their events. Meeting with national staff members was a validating experience.

“It was a privilege to meet with Mrs. Ballantyne and Ms. Jones to discuss the future of our chapter. We discussed our plans for activism on campus, our thoughts on various presidential candidates, and future plans for colleges. They were very impressed with out chapter and where we are heading on the future,” said chapter chairman Hannah Payne.

The chapter is already making event plans for next year. They plan to bring in more inspirational speakers and to take advantage of the high profile visibility of an election year to promote conservative values and political activism among fellow students.

PHOTOS: Unity YAF chapter members meet with national staff members Jolie Ballantyne and Haley Jones. Students pictured are (R-L) Kyle Jacobson, Hannah Payne, Anna Kate Rix, Barrett Irmscher, Abigail Sorrow, Carson Earnest and Ben Prevost.