Despite the challenges the year presented, Kyle Thaller, a senior at Patriot High School, made the most of 2020. Early in 2020, he served as a U.S. Senate Page on Capitol Hill for Senator Mark Warner. Afterward, he and other former Senate pages completed an impressive project, assisting the minister of federal affairs of the Republic of South Sudan in promoting a federal government system and developing a new constitution with a goal of mitigating lethal violence in the country. In addition, Kyle was recently honored as the Patriot High nominee for the Harry F. Byrd Leadership Award. Only one nominee is selected per high school who will compete in their school's congressional district.
"Kyle
has
been
doing
work
in
South
Sudan
since
visiting
Juba
last
summer
[2019]
where
he
worked
to
save
the
lives
of
children
with
Type-1
Diabetes,"
said
Kyle's
father,
Dr.
Mark
Thaller.
"Since
then,
Kyle,
also
a
Type-1
Diabetic
(T1D),
and
his
organization,
Kyle's
Campaigns
for
Change
(KCC),
have
facilitated
over
$1M
of
market-value
supplies
for
T1D
children,
including
insulin.
KCC
is
currently
providing
the
entirety
of
financial
support
for
the
diabetes
clinics
at
Gurei
and
Malakia
in
Juba,
South
Sudan.
Kyle's
source
of
funds
to
do
this
are
from
his
own
earnings
as
a
U.S.
Senate
Page
working
at
the
U.S.
Senate
this
past
spring-2020."
Leveraging
his
page
experience
and
the
Senate
page
talent
pool,
Kyle
explored
potential
projects
that
could
make
a
difference.
Thanks
to
his
work
in
South
Sudan,
he
had
an
established
relationship
with
South
Sudan's
minister
of
federal
affairs
and
a
vested
interest
in
supporting
the
country
in
need.
He
brought
in
fellow
pages
from
across
the
country
and
both
sides
of
the
Senate,
who,
from
their
recent
semester
working
full
time
on
the
U.S.
Senate
Floor,
offered
a
unique
perspective
on
government
and
legislation
and,
like
Kyle,
are
driven
to
positively
impact
world
affairs.
Kyle's
efforts
resulted
in
an
important
project
never
done
before
in
the
190-year
history
of
this
program.
With
an
agreement
from
the
South
Sudan
government
to
carry
out
the
project,
the
group
looked
to
doing
whatever
possible
to
help
the
minister
of
federal
affairs
alleviate
conflict,
violence,
and
civil
war
in
the
country.
Via
a
video
conference,
the
Honorable
Losuba
Ludoru
Wongo
Upele,
minister
of
federal
affairs,
spoke
with
the
former
pages
about
his
own
goal
to
implement
federalism
as
the
foundational
theme
for
government.
Upele
asked
the
pages
for
ideas
that
best
describe
how
federalism
concepts
may
apply
to
South
Sudan.
After
research,
their
top
suggestions,
which
included
using
"domestic
ambassadors"
to
work
between
federal,
state,
and
local
governments,
creating
a
balance
of
power
through
multiple
branches
of
government,
holding
popular
elections,
and
having
a
representative
government
that
includes
women,
were
consolidated
and
organized
into
a
110-page
report
and
presentation.
While
the
pandemic
prevented
the
group
trip
to
South
Sudan
planned
for
August,
the
results
were
presented
via
Zoom
to
the
minister,
and
to
South
Sudan's
first
vice
president,
and
other
ministers
and
dignitaries
from
the
country,
as
well
as
viewers
from
other
countries
across
the
globe,
and
representatives
from
some
U.S.
Senator's
offices.
After
the
students'
presentation,
the
minister
acknowledged
the
challenges
his
country
faces;
but
he
stressed
that
their
great
diversity
in
ethnicity
and
cultures
also
define
South
Sudan's
potential
for
greatness.
Upele
said,
"It
is
also
important
to
let
you
Senate
pages
know
that
the
minister
of
federal
affairs
is
one
of
the
new
ministries
of
the
revitalized
transitional
government…This
ministry
has
a
very
important
function,
which
is
to
promote
participation
of
the
people
in
the
governance
affairs
and
avail
opportunities
for
the
government
institutions,
both
at
the
national
and
the
state
level,
to
work
together
harmoniously
and
also
to
complement
each
other…I'm
so
happy
with
the
presentations
that
each
one
of
you
have
presented
today.
This
will…
motivate
the
people
in
order
to
reach
the
level
where
we
enshrine
these
issues
that
you
have
raised
into
the
constitution
of
the
Republic
of
South
Sudan
and
then
to
transition
this
country
into
a
federal
government
system.
I
thank
all
the
pages,
and
in
particular
Kyle,
for
organizing
us
to
participate
in
this
Zoom
conference.
I
want
to
say
that
you
are,
already,
the
ambassadors
of
South
Sudan,
for
wanting
peace,
and
unity,
and
prosperity
for
this
country."
Kyle
recently
returned
from
five
weeks
in
South
Sudan
and
Sudan
with
his
dad,
where
he
was
able
to
check
up
on
the
diabetic
clinics
he
supports,
including
a
new
one
in
Hasaheesa
(near
Khartoum),
Sudan,
and
to
present
the
South
Sudan
Senate
Page
federalism
project
in-person
to
the
first
vice
president
of
South
Sudan.
"I
attended
Patriot
High
School
online
during
my
entire
time
there,"
said
Kyle.
"It
was
challenging,
I
must
admit,
since
I
had
meetings
all
day,
and
then
attended
school
until
nearly
midnight
each
night.
The
conditions
in
South
Sudan
were
very
tough.
Very
few
roads
are
paved.
I
was
able
to
go
to
a
local
high
school
for
a
full
day
in
Kator,
a
borough
of
Juba,
South
Sudan.
It
was
an
enlightening
experience.
They
had
a
wrecked-up
chalkboard,
no
power,
no
light,
no
calculators
(only
slide
rules)
and
no
running
water.
Yet,
some
of
the
classes
I
attended
included
European
history,
calculus,
and
accounting.
Overall,
the
trip
was
an
incredible
adventure
that
I
will
never
forget."