Riley Keaton, in earlier days attending the Republican
National Convention, says "I've always loved politics."
The State Capitol from January to March is a busy place as the West Virginia Legislature meets for its regular 60-day session, but this month a different group of potential lawmakers were present.
Members of the Youth Leadership Association (YLA) are given a way to improve their schools and communities through participating in youth government, student Legislature or the YLA Supreme Court.
And the lawmakers-in-training seem to be making a difference.
During the weekend-long process, student reporters get in on the action. A newspaper is published on the second day. The publication, "The Youth Gazette," offers students the ability to write stories featuring the students serving as Governor, Speaker of the House and Senate President.
Riley Keaton, 18 (left) a junior from Spencer, Roane County who, has been participating in the program since he was in eighth grade, has been interested in politics for several years, even attending the 2008 Republican National Convention.
This session, Keaton participated as a committee chairman. The youth Legislature is a little different from the West Virginia Legislature. The YLA Legislature has no political affiliations and the bills are sped up significantly to get "through" the process in just a few days, according to the State Journal.
"We heard controversial bills this session," Keaton said. "Abortion regulations, (attempting) to repeal the pain-capable ban and reinstate publicly funded abortions.
"It didn't have the votes to get through committee, but we passed it and it died on the floor."
Keaton speaks fluently of the student-run session, as if it were the real deal.
"I love politics, it's what I want to do with my life," he said.
However, he's realistic about the job of a lawmaker, including the pay. He joked his "real" job would hopefully be something with a non-profit or working for YLA.
Keaton said the student-led Legislature is not only preparing him for the potential to become a lawmaker, but also for any career.
"If you're not taking the experiences into the political field, you're taking them into business," he said.
"When you have legislation in front of you, you think about the 1.8 million people this bill affects."
Keaton's wisdom sounds beyond his 18 years when he talks about wanting to make the Mountain State a place where he and his classmates can use the education they receive in West Virginia.
"I'll be sitting in class, thinking about, 'What are we all going to do?'" he said. "I can't envision all the kids in my AP class staying because I don't know what they're going to do in 10, 20 years in West Virginia.
"People are hard working, that's part of our (state) history; West Virginia isn't doing what it could be doing."
Keaton said he wants to create the potential for people his age to use the education they receive for careers that can help the people he hopes to represent in the statehouse some day, according to the State Journal.
Keaton is the son of Tony Keaton of Spencer and Tracey Weaver Keaton of Spencer, and is the grandson of the Hur Herald editor Bob Weaver.
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