WASHINGTON – U.S. Senators Roger Wicker, R-Miss., and Thad Cochran, R-Miss., today announced that Braeden Foldenauer of Southaven and Cade Slaughter of Hattiesburg have been selected to represent Mississippi at the 55th annual United States Senate Youth Program (USSYP).

Wicker and Cochran, strong supporters of the program, are scheduled to meet Foldenauer and Slaughter during the 2017 USSYP Washington Week, March 4-11. The Mississippi students will each be awarded a $10,000 undergraduate college scholarship from the non-profit Hearst Foundations, which fund the program.

“Congratulations to these two young Mississippians on being selected by the Senate Youth Program to represent Mississippi,” said Wicker, who serves as the Republican co-chair of the program’s 2017 Senate Advisory Committee. “I look forward to meeting Braeden and Cade in March as they experience our nation’s capital through this excellent, esteemed program.”

“I congratulate Braeden and Cade on their selection to this prestigious program. Their records of community service and academic success indicate they are well-suited to be good ambassadors for Mississippi,” Cochran said.

In all, 104 student delegates from across the country will take part in the USSYP Washington Week, an educational program designed to increase knowledge of American government and commitment to public service. The program includes meetings and briefings with Senators, congressional staff, the President, a U.S. Supreme Court Justice and officials from cabinet agencies, the diplomatic corps and the media.

Foldenauer, a senior at the Mississippi School for Mathematics and Science in Columbus, is the Student Government Association vice president and a National Merit Scholarship semifinalist. He also serves as the president of the Mississippi Model Security Council and as state president of Mu Alpha Theta, a mathematics honor society. He is an alumnus of the Telluride Association Summer Program, a summer academic program.

Slaughter, a senior at Sacred Heart Catholic School in Hattiesburg, is student body president and senior class vice president. He also serves as Mu Alpha Theta president, secretary of the Future Business Leaders of America, and plays on the varsity tennis team. Slaughter attended the Trent Lott Leadership Institute summer program at the University of Mississippi before his senior year.

Mississippi’s alternate delegates to the 2017 program are Mississippi School for Mathematics and Science student Samuel Patterson of Leland, and Abby Johnston of Madison, a student at Madison Central High School.

The Mississippi Superintendent of Education, Dr. Carey Wright, designated the Mississippi delegates and alternates from students nominated by teachers and principals.

The USSYP was created by Senate Resolution 324 in 1962 and has been sponsored by the Senate and fully funded by The Hearst Foundations since its inception. No government funds are used. Two students from each state, the District of Columbia and the Department of Defense Education Activity take part in the annual program.