ISAAC CHAMBERS

URBANA — Senior Isaac Chambers has been named a regional semifinalist in the 47th annual United States Senate Youth Program.

The USSYP, established in 1962, is a program held in Washington, D.C., in which students spend the week in the nation’s capital and observe various aspects of the national government.

The program is sponsored by the U.S. Senate and funded by the Hearst Foundations.

Selection is based on a student's demonstrated abilities and qualities of leadership in an elected or appointed high school student office for the 2008-09 school year. Chambers is Student Council executive president and has been involved in student government throughout his Uni career.

According to the program's Web site: "Student delegates will hear major policy addresses by senators, cabinet members, officials from the Departments of State and Defense and directors of other federal agencies, as well as participate in a meeting with a Justice of the U.S. Supreme Court."

The 2009 USSYP will take place March 7 to 14.

In addition to the experience of watching the government in action, the students will each receive a $5,000 college scholarship.

Chambers is one of 18 semifinalists in the state of Illinois. Each state independently chooses two delegates.

Illinois is divided into six regions; each region chooses two semifinalists, except for the Chicago area, which chooses eight.

The next step for Chambers and the other semifinalists is an interview to be conducted Nov. 13 or 14. From there, the two Illinois delegates will be selected.