Stephanie Vis, a member of the Washington Youth Advisory Council and Junior at Lynden High School in Bellingham, WA successfully had her letter to editor published supporting the Academy.  The end of February was a boon for the Washington YACers.  Rep. Norm Dicks, and Senators Patty Murray and Maria Cantwell all agreed to co-sponsor the bill!  Stephanie wrote to the Bellingham Herald to publicly acknowledge her Senators’ support of the bill and at the same time she garnered more good P.R. for the cause!  Thanks Stephanie and the all the YACers for your hard-work, follow-up and focus.  It is clearly paying off.

Delays. Room changes. Scheduling conflicts.

Formidable opponents all, yet no hindrance was able to deny the Public Service Academy its moment in the spotlight. On Thursday, March 22, 2007, in the presence of several dozen Academy supporters, Sen. Hillary Clinton, Sen. Arlen Specter, Rep. James Moran, and Rep. Christopher Shays officially introduced the Public Service Academy Act. The assembled crowd also heard from Irasema Salcido, principal of Cesar Chavez Public Charter School for Public Policy, AnnMaura Connolly of City Year, and Academy co-founders Chris Myers Asch and Shawn Raymond.

In her opening remarks, Sen. Clinton reiterated the need for a public service academy, reminding the audience that “when Americans can serve, Americans do serve.” She also urged her colleagues in the House and Senate to put the bill on a “fast track” to authorization.

The U.S. Public Service Academy Act is now officially known by the bill number S.960 in the Senate and H.R. 1671 in the House.

If you weren’t able to attend the press conference, check out the video footage below, courtesy of Sen. Clinton’s website.

Still wish you could have been there? Check out the Washington Post’s coverage of the event, or view the write-up on Sen. Clinton’s website.

You can also read the full text of the legislation by following the links available here.

Thanks to all of you who’ve supported the Academy on this first leg of the journey. There’s a lot more to come…