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South Valley Riverton Journal

Attorney General Takes Time Out For Herriman High

Feb 13, 2015 06:17PM ● By Sherry Smith

It’s just another day at work for little Axton White who visits his dad, Ryan White, at Herriman High and gets to play with Utah Attorney General Sean Reyes. Reyes, at right, visited government students at Herriman High at their invitation.

Sometimes we believe that our voice doesn’t matter in politics; that our elected officials are somehow beyond our reach. This is especially true for high school students who lack connections and the money to attend expensive big-ticket fundraising events.

But that didn’t stop the Utah government students at Herriman High from reaching out to Attorney General Sean Reyes and issuing an invitation to visit the school.

Government teacher Ryan White arranged for his students to scour webpages and find contact information for political leaders they would be interested in hearing speak. They wrote e-mails to political leaders and waited for a response. Would any of them bother to respond to high school students? Would any care to take the time to actually visit?

“I took a survey in class asking my students how many of them thought that their voice counted. Seven of 40 thought their voice mattered. I began a ‘My Voice Matters’ crusade,” White said. “After the invite was issued, we received an immediate response from the Attorney General and a date to visit us within 30 days.”

Reyes visited Herriman High on Jan. 20 and spent two hours answering questions from students. More than 250 government students attended the special assembly. He discussed everything from his most difficult cases to his recent work on helping to end human trafficking.

“Our leaders are not untouchable. I was really impressed that the A.G. didn’t stand on the stage. He wanted to be in the middle of the students so they could ask him anything. He asked us to invite him back next year,” White said.