Buffalo Bills player comes to SDHS

STUARTS DRAFT — Brad Butler is used to seeing 11 people opposite him — but 11 Advanced Placement government high school students was a little different.

Butler, a former University of Virginia standout and current tackle for Buffalo Bills, visited Abe Mikell’s classroom at Stuarts Draft High School on Thursday morning, sounding the importance of community involvement.

“Just to be able to sit down with students and talk about issues that are relevant to this part of the country, it’s something I really enjoy,” Butler said. “Hopefully when I leave today there will be some people really passionate about politics.”

Thursday’s stop in Augusta County and Waynesboro was just one of many as Butler traveled Central Virginia representing the U.Va. Center for Politics’ Youth Initiative. Butler majored in American politics and also interned with renowned political expert Larry Sabato.

“That really laid a good foundation to be passionate about politics and government,” he said. “It’s something I really want to pass on, hopefully to kids of this generation. I believe that good politics make good government.”

During his 30-minute presentation, Butler touched on how politics influenced the world and encouraged students to think of government in a positive way. He also touched on the importance of diversifying knowledge, using himself as an example.

“I wanted to understand why I was paying taxes and what they were going to,” he said. “So when I went to vote, that’s something I was interested in. The government takes a part in your life no matter what stage of it you are in.”

Butler spent half the day touring Stuarts Draft High School and visiting other classes before eating lunch with some of the school’s wrestlers and football players.