Story - The Meade County Messenger


Vol. 114, No. 49	December 9 , 2009

Lt. Gov. Tate Wilson?
Meade County freshman to assume 2010 state office

It’s doubtful that freshman Tate Wilson is walking taller these days, but one can be correct in assuming he is paying closer attention to state governmental affairs.

And for a likely reason.

Wilson, 14, will assume the role of lieutenant governor Jan. 1, as he leads the Kentucky Youth Assembly (KYA) forward. He has been a member of the Meade County Y Club since he was a 6th-grade student at David T. Wilson Elementary School, and is the son of Ben and Maggie Wilson, of Brandenburg.
KYA is a three-day state conference, held annually in the fall, which gives students a hands-on experience in Kentucky’s state government.

The conference is student-led, allowing teens to experience firsthand what it’s like to debate a bill in the Capitol chambers, run for state office or argue a case in the state Supreme Court. The event is held at a Louisville hotel and welcomes close to 1,000 participants.

“My brother (Bo) had attended similar youth assemblies and I am interested in debating,” Wilson said. “It sounded like fun, so he told me to give it a shot.”

His brother is an all-around athlete, who can be seen on the football field, the baseball field and the basketball court.

Wilson was also chosen as one of the top speakers in the forum this year, which earned him praise.
“I had to speak on my main platform reasons and for that I was voted one of the top speakers,” he said. “I spent a lot of time (on the speech). A lot of time.”

His platform consisted of two major issues:
• Underage tobacco, which he was against;
• Religion in schools, which he supported.

Wilson said each of the 20 delegates had to give an opening speech and since another Meade County High School student, Brian Chism, was serving as speaker of the house this year, and selected the assignments for the speeches, Wilson went first.

“I campaigned (for the post) this year and was elected for it for the next year,” he said.
The executive post is the highest rank for the freshman and sophomore grades, Wilson said.
Campaigning even was a part of the job, Wilson said, adding he created tri-folds, discussed his platforms with several other delgates and became better acquainted with them. He said the tri-fold emphasized his positions and involved a lot of writing and typing to create.

“One of the things (we created) were business cards, which were sort of done at the last minute,” Wilson said. “We printed off cards here at school or at home. My adviser, Mrs. Smith, helped a lot. She sacrificed a lot of time and worked a lot of nights for me.”
With the election comes a campaign slogan, and Wilson chose “There’s no debate, vote for Tate,” as his.

He was noncommittal about seeking a higher office, adding the governor’s job was limited to one nomination from each high school.

One of the school’s proposed bills made it through and ended up on the governor’s desk for signature, Wilson said.

The bill – written by Lydia Richardson, Kelly Claycamp and Savannah Buckey – is an act to require medical records to be stored in a barcode on the state-issued ID and all medical facilities and medical vehicles must contain a scanner for the bar code.

“There are a lot of people who are allergic to a lot of different medications,” Wilson said, adding they often are incapable of addressing medical personnel after an accident.

“The bill had a lot of pros to it,” he continued. “It did not have a lot of cons. It had very few cons and nothing in the bill is harmful.”

He said the legislature had their own bill review committees, similar to their Frankfort counterparts, which reviewed the legislation for conflicts and costs to the state.

Another “perk” to the position is the fact Wilson will attend upcoming Y Club conferences until the 2010 event. He will also participate in a January conference entitled, “Go For it.” and a summer leadership training conference on personal growth and development.

Other Meade County students participating in the program include:
Allie Jordan, Andre Dowell, Ashley Sydnor, Becca Clark, Bethany Roberts, Hanna Darnall, Hannah Moore, Justin Barley, Kaleb Lancaster, Katie Renyer, Katie Beck, Kristin Lusk, Lacee Tate, MaKenzie Tucker, Matt Hewlett, Natalie Heibert, Olivia Buckman, Rachel Nelson, Rachel Powers, Rachel Harreld, Ryan Babb, Sarah Stankiewicz, Savannah Allen, Sydney Hobbs, Tara Beck and Taylor Evenson.

Advisers are Garrett Frank and Smith.

KYA was created in 1946 and still operates on the Constitution created by students in 1949 and modified by successive groups of student officers since. The program was split into two components in 1960 and has continued to grow, becoming the largest youth in government program of its kind in the nation. KYA alumni are active in a variety of posts throughout the state and the country and many continue to be passionate advocates of issues they debated when delegates.

When not walking the halls of the Freshman Academy, Wilson spends a majority of his time at the swimming pool. He also helps his family raise cattle, which they sell at the stockyard.

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