This past weekend, more than a dozen students from Mesa and Garfield Counties traveled to Denver and helped change the world.

Sunday, January 28, the students met in Grand Junction, piled into a couple rented vehicles, and made the drive as part of West Slope Youth Voice’s 2024 Lobby Days event. Over the next day, the students met with several Colorado lawmakers from both sides of the political aisle, testified before important committees, and impressed a lot of people in the process of supporting legislation they had, as a group, previously identified as being important to the well-being of students like themselves.

After arriving in Denver on Sunday night, the students sat down to prepare for the next day’s lobbying. As luck would have it, they had arrived in time to offer testimony on behalf of SB24-034, “Increase Access to School-Based Health Care,” and their testimony caused at least one senator to change her vote in support of the bill.

There was much more accomplished by the students during their visit to the Capitol, and we’ll have more details to come soon. But in the meantime, enjoy this gallery of photos from the students’ time learning about the American democratic process first-hand!

The assembled 2024 West Slope Youth Voice lobby team!

The students were also able to meet with Senator Dylan Roberts, formerly the State Representative for Eagle and Routt Counties, but who was elected to serve Colorado’s Eighth Senate District in 2022.

Another lawmaker students were able to spend some time with was Perry Will (R, SD5). Like Dylan Roberts, Will was a member of the Colorado House until losing his seat to Democrat Elizabeth Velasco. Then, in January of last year, he was appointed to fill outgoing Senator Bob Rankin’s seat. He has chosen not to run again for the Senate and is instead running in 2024 for a seat on the Board of County Commissioners of Garfield County.

The students also met with Cleave Simpson (R, SD6). He is a fourth-generation farmer and rancher and a native of the San Luis Valley.

The night before the actual Lobby Day, the students met to discuss their strategies for persuading lawmakers.

Senator Cleave Simpson listens to one of the West Slope Youth Voice students speak on behalf of the bills they were supporting.

Another lawmaker who found time to meet with the students was Representative Matt Soper (R, D54).

The students were lucky to have clear drives both heading to Denver and returning the following Tuesday.