Students Inside Albany (SIA) Conference
Sunday, May 17, 2026, through Wednesday, May 20, 2026, in Albany

Deadline for Application: Monday, January 5, 2026
LWVS SIA 2026 Application and Instructions

Applicants must arrange for a confidential letter of recommendation from a current or former Social Studies teacher to be submitted directly by email from the teacher to LWVSyouthprograms@gmail.com with the subject line: [Applicant’s Name], SIA Application 2025 Letter of Recommendation. Recommenders are encouraged to address how the student would contribute to and benefit from the Conference.

In keeping with longstanding practice, LWVS is inviting high school students to submit applications to attend the Students Inside Albany (SIA) Conference. Following a competitive process open to all 10th grade, 11th grade, and 12th grade students who attend Scarsdale High School or who reside in the school district, LWVS will select two students to attend, free of charge, courtesy of a combination of funding from both LWVNYS Education Foundation and LWVS.

Scarsdale students who attended this program have been unanimous in their enthusiasm about the program. Follow these links to read Dylan Lemberg’s impressions of the 2025 event, Mason Levy’s recap and Maya Barmecha’s recap about their 2024 experiences, and an article about SIA written by Andrew Morin and Rishabh Gharekhan who attended the in-person conference held in 2019.

The program is designed to immerse students in the process by which public policy is proposed, enacted and changed in New York State and educate them as to how they can influence and affect this process. Traditionally, the conference brings approximately 60 students from across the state to Albany to get a first-hand education about their state government. The highlight for most students is the opportunity to shadow their state representatives, with many students getting the opportunity to attend a session on the chamber floor.

For more information, view LWVNYS’s website and LWVNYS’s SIA 2026 brochure.

Please contact LWVSyouthprograms@gmail.com for more information.