NC Press Release of Senate Youth Student Winners 2025

North Carolina's 2024 Delegate Winners

• 2025 USSYP Delegate: Sriya Vangala, Weddington High School, Weddington, N.C. (Union County Schools)

• Take a look at Sriya's digital presentation, Links to an external site. (a NC application requirement) submitted with her 2025 Senate Youth application.

• 2025 USSYP Delegate: Fatou Bintou Lo, Mount Tabor High School, Winston-Salem, N.C. (Winston-Salem Forsyth Schools)

• Take a look at Fatou's digital presentation, Links to an external site. (a NC application requirement) submitted with her 2025 Senate Youth application.

Sriya Vangala, a junior at Weddington High School, serves as president of the Union County Library's Teen Advisory Group. In this role, she uses her passion for community service and volunteerism to provide resources and opportunities to teens in her county. She is also an online student at the North Carolina School of Science and Math. She runs cross country and track, and she is an officer for her school's DECA chapter, an organization focused on business and entrepreneurship. In DECA, she has competed at the district, state, and international levels, and has received awards at all three. She is a co-vice president of her school’s Mu Alpha Theta Math Honor Society chapter, and she is a representative for the local nonprofit and school-based organization known as the Rachel's Kindness Matters Movement. Along with being involved in the National Honor Society, Sriya has accumulated over 300 hours of community service. She has also had the opportunity to serve as a page for Governor Roy Cooper, and currently interns at a local family law firm. After college, she hopes to pursue a career as a lawyer and further her interest in public service.

Fatou Lo, a junior at Mount Tabor High School, serves as the public relations chair for the Winston-Salem Youth Advisory Board. She is an associate justice representing North Carolina at the state level for North Carolina Youth and Government, a civic program that prepares high school students for moral and political leadership. She is the founder of a babysitting initiative that attempts to mitigate achievement gaps in young children and is president of her school's multicultural club and Black student achiever club. Fatou is dedicated to making a difference in her collective community. She would like to study political science and economics in college, attend law school and pursue a legal career.

North Carolina's 2025 Alternates

The winning delegates must attend the entire week-long educational program in Washington D.C. to receive the $10,000 scholarship. If either delegate, for some reason, is unable to attend the entire week-long program, the first or second alternate will be asked to attend. The alternate replacing the delegate who was unable to attend would also receive the scholarship.  

• First Alternate: Aastha Taralkumar Patel, Challenger Early College High School, Hickory, N.C.  (Catawba County Schools)

• Take a look at Aastha's digital presentation, Links to an external site. submitted with her 2025 Senate Youth application.

• Second Alternate: Ailen De Bonis, Ardrey Kell High School, Charlotte, N.C.

• Take a look at Ailen's digital presentation, Links to an external site. submitted with her 2025 Senate Youth application.

Aastha Patel is a senior at Challenger Early College High School in Hickory, NC. At school, she serves as the Student Body President and is a leader in her other clubs: Interact, Beta, and SkillsUSA. She aims to bridge disparities in her local community by leading initiatives with the local library and soup kitchen. She has been recognized for her public service efforts at the state and national level. Aastha seeks to further her impact by pursuing a career in economics and political science.

Ailen De Bonis, a senior at Ardrey Kell High School serves as Student Body President, Student Advisor of the Charlotte Mecklenburg Board of Education, and Student Body President of the Charlotte Mecklenburg Youth Council. Ailen passionately advocates for English Second Language (ESL) and Hispanic students as an immigrant from Argentina. At school, she is an ESL Ambassador, where she assists ESL students, and in her community, she volunteers at her local library.