This video originally appeared on KCRG.

WASHINGTON (Gray DC) – Advocates hit the Hill every day to pound down the doors of their Senators and Congressman. But it isn’t so often that high school seniors are the ones facilitating those meetings.

Sruthi Palaniappan, a senior at Linn-Mar high school, has been part of the Save the Children Action Network for more than a year. She’s traveled to DC before but when we caught up with her, she was front and center for a meeting with Senator Chuck Grassley.

Palaniappan was advocating two bills concerning early childhood education and global maternal and child health. She says youth advocates are the best people to advocated for young people. But, more importantly, she says early childhood education is key to setting children up for their futures.

“90% of your brain is developed before the age of five. So it is extremely crucial that we’re targeting kids when they’re at this age,” she said.