Waterbury PAL Teens Get Surprise Airport Encounter With U.S. Senator Richard Blumenthal After Washington Summit
The Waterbury Times|Aug 10, 2026 8:13pm
Washington DC– Eight Waterbury teenagers already had plenty to talk about after spending four days in Washington, D.C., developing leadership skills alongside hundreds of young people from across the country.
Then, on their way home, they got one more unexpected memory.
They ran into U.S. Senator Richard Blumenthal at the airport.
The Waterbury PAL teens had traveled to Washington for the National Police Athletic/Activities League’s 2026 Youth Summit, a four-day gathering that brought together more than 400 young people representing 41 PAL chapters nationwide.
The summit, themed “On the Rise,” focused on leadership, resilience, teamwork, civic engagement and preparing young people for future success.
But as the Waterbury group prepared to leave the nation’s capital, the students unexpectedly crossed paths with Blumenthal, Connecticut’s senior U.S. senator.
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VIDEO: Waterbury PAL teens have an unexpected encounter with U.S. Senator Richard Blumenthal at the airport while returning home from the National PAL Youth Summit.
The senator took time to speak with the young people about leadership, public service and the importance of helping others succeed.
At one point, Blumenthal told the teens:
“We all do well when we all do well”
The encounter was not part of the summit’s scheduled programming. It happened simply because the senator and the Waterbury teens happened to be at the same airport as the group prepared to return home.
And that made the moment particularly memorable.
The trip itself was designed to give the young people practical leadership experience they could take home to Waterbury.
The summit’s programming included leadership development, teamwork, civic engagement, service, advocacy, creativity and collaboration.
The teens also participated in GRIT, a National PAL youth development program centered on Growth mindset, Resilience, Initiative and Tenacity.
They toured Capitol Hill, visited museums and national monuments, and worked alongside young people from PAL chapters around the country.
For Jeilyn Matos Acevedo, the experience provided an opportunity to work with young people she had never met before.
“With this experience, I learned how to work as a team virtually with people that I didn’t even know to create a fun, engaging and enjoyable learning experience for hundreds of youth around the nation,” Matos Acevedo said.
The Waterbury teens weren’t simply attendees.
According to Waterbury PAL Mentor Coordinator Dominique LaVallee, the young people were involved in planning and producing portions of the summit, including conference layout planning, MC duties, DJ production and social media content.
“This was an incredible experience for Waterbury PAL,” LaVallee said. “Our youth were involved in everything from planning the conference layout via Zoom with youth from across the country, to the MC mic and DJ production, to creating social content.”
LaVallee said the experience gave the students skills they can continue to use long after the trip ended.
“The experience provided them with real skills that they will use in the future,” she said.
The summit concluded with an activity called “The Line We Leave,” during which participants created messages of encouragement, gratitude and hope for first responders, mentors, future youth leaders and one another.
For Waterbury PAL, however, the trip offered an additional lesson that couldn’t have been scheduled in advance.
On the way home, eight Waterbury teenagers unexpectedly found themselves face-to-face with one of the people representing Connecticut in Washington.
And for a group that had just spent several days learning about leadership and public service, the encounter provided an especially fitting final chapter to their trip.
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