BATON ROUGE, La. (BRPROUD) – High school students from across the state made their way to Louisiana’s state Capitol Thursday afternoon.

Youth Day at the Capitol was created to help high school students understand more about the legislative process and how some of these laws directly impact young people across Louisiana.

The trip to the Capitol was free for high school students and sponsored by a New Orleans-based nonprofit called Daughters Beyond Incarceration.

According to its website, DBI aims to break “the cycle of poverty and crime by advocating for girls with incarcerated dads and building strong parent-to-child relationships through public education, leadership development and implementing policy change.”

During Youth Day at the Capitol, the attending teens gathered on the steps of the 91-year-old building to “raise awareness on the importance of amplifying youth voices.”

Youth Day’s itinerary said Commissioner Davante Lewis, Rep. Denise Marcelle, and Sen. Royce Duplessis were scheduled to address the students shortly before the close of the event.