Kentucky Youth Association (KYA)

Virtual KYA Overview

The Virtual Kentucky Youth Assembly (KYA) is a 2-day expanded educational opportunity in which students serve as part of a model state government. KYA offers students the opportunity to learn about a wide variety of issues, develop critical thinking skills, and articulate their beliefs while engaging constructively with their peers from around the Commonwealth.

Students are encouraged to apply for Need-Based Scholarship prior to payment.
The first round deadline – we will remove any students who have not completed payment or their virtual code of conduct or has not been approved by the school to stay on the roster. We will create the bill book and roster based on these submitted registrations to place on the website approximately one week in advance of the conference.
The second round deadline – we will finalize the registrations, making any necessary edits to the roster and bill book on the website. The final version of the KYA bill book and roster will be available approximately two days prior to the conference.
Students registered between Round 1 and Round 2 by the school will require immediate confirmation from the school that the school acknowledges they will pay the registration fee if the student does not pay online.
All students who register individually will be required to pay at the time of registration.
No refunds will be processed for virtual conferences, if this is a concern, please reach out to Starla@kyymca.org.

Note: After each KYA season, we take feedback from advisors, students and Y-Staff to continually improve our programming. The changes for our 2020 program year are available on our KYA Resources page!

Program Areas

At KYA, students participate in one of the Program Areas at the Assembly based on their grade and experience. Each area is led by Presiding and Supporting Officers, with a variety of Delegate Roles available to participants:

Commonwealth House & Senate | HS & MS | See Eligibility Chart

The highest level of our House and Senate – Commonwealth delegates research, write, and debate bills on state policy issues. The number of Commonwealth Bills delegations can sponsor depends on how many Commonwealth delegates they have attending KYA.

Bluegrass House & Senate | HS & MS | See Eligibility Chart

The introductory level of our House and Senate – Bluegrass delegates research, write, and debate bills on state policy issues. The number of Bluegrass Bills delegations can sponsor depends on how many Bluegrass delegates they have attending KYA.

Media Corps | HS Only | Gr. 10-12, 1 per delegation

Media delegates craft compelling news stories on important Assembly topics. Students will find themselves working on written journalism, social media, photo journalism, and broadcast journalism.

Supreme Court | HS Only | Gr. 10-12, 1 team of 1-3 students per delegation

A first-come, first-served program, Supreme Court delegates serve as attorneys presenting oral arguments before the KYA Supreme Court made up of student Justices, and also advise the Attorney General on the constitutionality of bills passed by the Commonwealth House and Senate.

Exec. Cabinet & Lobbyists | HS Only | 1 Lobbyist per Commonwealth Bill

Lobbyist delegates represent clients by using advocacy and networking to influence debate in the Commonwealth House and Senate and persuade Cabinet Secretaries to support their positions. *At Middle School KYA, the Governor, Lt. Governor, and their Chiefs of Staff are the only members of the Executive branch.

Leadership

Presiding Officers are Student Y members elected from candidates or chosen by their program area to serve as Assembly leadership. They are assisted by Supporting Officers to ensure that their respective Program Areas are running smoothly. All Officers are supported by YMCA professionals, advisors, alumni, and parent volunteers.

Students interested in running for an elected Presiding Officer position should visit the Candidate and Election page to declare and review guidelines in preparation for their campaigns.

Assembly Agenda

To get an idea of what takes place on each day of KYA, please view our sample agendas – one for High School KYA and another for Middle School KYA – that will help provide information on the timing and flow of the assembly.

Sample Virtual HS KYA Agenda
Sample Virtual MS KYA Agenda – COMING SOON