The halls of the State Capitol were filled with upper-class high school students March 28 and several of them were from Moniteau County. They visited their state representatives and senators as part of Missouri Farm Bureau's 19th annual Youth Leadership Day, sponsored by the organization's Promotion and Education Program.
Junior and senior high school students also spent part of the afternoon at the MFB Center where they heard from MFB President Blake Hurst and Duane Benton, a federal judge on the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Eighth Circuit. "This is a rare chance for students to experience the legislative process first hand," said Diane Olson, director of Promotion and Education Programs. "Mr. Hurst and Judge Benton both shared their launch from small, rural Missouri communities to positions of leadership."
Costs for the school trip are underwritten by county Farm Bureaus and the MFB Foundation for Agriculture. About 335 students and chaperons attended the event.