Drake Fair, a junior at Donegal High School, started researching elections when he was 10 years old.
He said he finds the nitty-gritty details of political trends, such as Lancaster County’s slow leftward shift in the suburbs, fascinating, and he hopes to turn that passion into a career.
Fair has spoken with Pennsylvania lawmakers about election modeling and his personal research. On Sept. 9, he was invited by his state House legislator, Rep. Tom Jones, to a historic special legislative session honoring the nation’s semiquincentennial and Pennsylvania’s role in founding the United States at Congress Hall in Philadelphia.
Congress Hall served as the capitol and the seat of the U.S. Congress from 1790 to 1800, when Philadelphia was the national capital and lawmakers were still drafting the Bill of Rights and the Constitution. Now, the building accommodates tourists as part of Independence National Historical Park. During the special legislative session, it opened back up to lawmakers.
Fair was one of several Lancaster County students among the 87 highschoolers selected by their representatives to attend a day of civic education and engagement in Philadelphia to mark 250 years since the signing of the Declaration of Independence.
“It made me feel at home in a way,” Fair said. “When I go to school every day, I don't necessarily have someone to talk to about politics all the time, but someone there was always ready to talk to me about it, and they were very intrigued. I was able to build connections that are gonna last me a long time.”
The students toured Independence National Historical Park, spoke with judges from Pennsylvania’s Commonwealth, Superior and Supreme courts and toured the Museum of the American Revolution. At day’s end, they gathered with members of the Legislature to watch the first Philadelphia session in nearly 40 years.
Fair is also Donegal High School’s nominee for the U.S. Senate Youth Program and Donegal school board’s student representative. After speaking with legislators and state judges in Philadelphia, he’s more interested in pursuing a career in politics, starting with a political science degree.
“I think it would be wonderful if more opportunities did exist for these young people because young people will be the ones to develop our nation,” Fair said. “They’re going to be our future.”
Engaging the young
Reagan Miller, a junior at Lampeter-Strasburg High School, was selected to attend the special session through an essay contest sponsored by Rep. Steven Mentzer in the 97th District in which students wrote about the historical importance of celebrating the semiquincentennial. Miller, who hopes to become a lawyer, said her favorite part of the day was meeting judges across Pennsylvania’s high courts.
Robbie Nguyen, a junior at Manheim Township High School and a student representative on the Pennsylvania Board of Education, found it interesting how the judges spoke about the local impact of their decisions. Nguyen, invited by Rep. Nikki Rivera in the 96th District, previously shadowed an assistant Lancaster County district attorney. He was struck by the judges’ comments on the importance of voter education and participation in court elections.
For many of the students, like homeschooled junior Caleb McClure, of Ephrata, the most meaningful part of the visit ended up being meeting other students. McClure, who was invited by Rep. Keith Greiner from the 43rd District, said he doesn’t get many opportunities to meet other students but was able to learn about views differing from his own in Philadelphia.
Nguyen said the event brought more seats to the table for students.
“When I walked into this room with everyone, suddenly I felt like I was surrounded by people who are just as interested,” Nguyen said. “It was nice to realize I wasn’t the only teenager because all of us wanted to spend our day learning about the government and being there.”
Aaron Smith, a homeschooled senior from Millersville selected through an essay contest sponsored by Rep. Brett Miller of the 41st District, wrote about prior sacrifices Pennsylvanians made for contemporary constitutional rights. He said he came home contemplating what Pennsylvania could look like for future generations.
“I've always wanted to go into politics, but (the visit) helped me see that all the different things that I want to be are within reach, and (it showed) me a little bit more of a tangible way to get there and what exactly that job will look like once I am there,” Smith said.
Those feelings of agency mean a lot to Cassandra Coleman, executive director of America250PA, which was founded in 2018 to plan for semiquincentennial celebrations across the state and sponsored the special session. Coleman was elected mayor of Exeter Borough in Luzerne County at 20 years old in 2008, making her one of the youngest female mayors in the country.
Gen Z and younger generations can often feel like Harrisburg politics are distant from their lives, Coleman said. She hopes the Philadelphia visit helped legislators connect with some of their younger constituents. She said she also hopes students learned that they don’t need a title, or decades of experience, to make a difference.
“I truly believe that we need them,” Coleman said. “We need their voices, we need their ideas, we need them to stand up for what they believe in.”
For students who did not get the opportunity to attend the special session, McClure said he’d tell them that driving change doesn’t come with an age requirement.
“This isn’t just our parents’ country; it’s our country as well,” McClure said.
Fair is on the lookout for more opportunities to engage in government at all levels. In the meantime, he’s busy tracking the 2026 midterm election. He’s predicting that Gov. Josh Shapiro and Sen. Lloyd Smucker will win their races.
“You might not have the experience. You might not have the connections,” Fair said. “But you certainly have your own thoughts. I think that a lot of people in older generations, and this goes back all the way to our nation's founding, seem to think that the younger generation doesn't know what they're talking about.”