Sawyer Williams, a rising junior at North Hall High School, was selected as one of 45 students across the U.S. to participate in the National Rifle Association’s Youth Education Summit. Y.E.S. is a seven-day, expense-paid educational experience in Washington, D.C., for outstanding rising high school juniors and seniors. While in the nation’s capital, he will learn the significance of the U.S. Constitution and the Bill of Rights while developing an understanding of government and the importance of actively participating in it.

He was selected from numerous applicants from across the country. He was required to complete an extensive application, which included the submission of transcripts, an essay about the Second Amendment, a personal statement and three personal recommendations.

Williams will be in North Hall’s International Baccalaureate program for the upcoming school year. Along with that, he is an athlete in Olympic-style air rifle and smallbore rifle.

He is a triple Master 4-H’er, the 2016 junior national champion in CMP Rimfire Sporter, and he competed at the Olympic Training Center in Colorado Springs, Colo., at the 2017 National Junior Olympic Shooting Championship this past April.

The National Rifle Association launched Y.E.S. in 1996 in an effort to encourage America’s youth to become active and knowledgeable citizens at both national and local levels. All funding for the program is provided by The NRA Foundation through monies raised by Friends of NRA. Friends of NRA is a grassroots, fundraising program organized by local volunteers.