Dr. Welch and CPT Head took their classes to the State Capitol in Richmond yesterday for a field trip. At the Capitol, cadets were given a tour of the building and the history of the site. During the tour, our cadets happened to meet Governor Youngkin while he was in the building and had a photograph taken with him.

After that, the cadets met with Del. Christopher Head, who represents the 17th District in the Roanoke area (and is the father of CPT Michael Head), and Sen. Mark Peake, who represents the 22nd Senate District which includes Fork Union Military Academy, in their offices and learned more about what they do in the General Assembly. Del. Head then made an official introduction of the cadets on the House floor as we watched in the gallery.

The cadets then sat in on a meeting of the Senate Judicial Committee, of which Sen. Mark Peake is a member. When the committee called for public comment on the bill then under consideration, which centered around labeling heated tobacco products as cigarette, Cadet Pretus stepped forward to speak in favor of the bill. His comments were well received by the committee and Sen. Mark Peake took great pleasure in introducing the cadets from Fork Union Military Academy as he moved that the committee advance the bill.

A video of Cadet Pretus' remarks to the committee (seen below) is available on YouTube at https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TjTZlEMEKRM.