Gulliver Preparatory School senior Elena Bueter is one of 10 Florida finalists for the United States Senate Youth Program.

Bueter is also a starting center defender on the Gulliver girls' water polo team that won the 2025 FHSAA State Championship, according to a Gulliver Prep profile published Oct. 28. She serves as senior class president, president of the National Honor Society and vice president of Rho Kappa, the social studies honor society.

The USSYP, supported by the Hearst Foundations, sends two student leaders from each state to Washington, D.C., each year. Selected delegates also receive a $12,500 undergraduate college scholarship, according to the Florida Department of Education. The program's 65th Annual Washington Week is scheduled for March 6-13, 2027.


The Florida Department of Education lists class president and National Honor Society officer among the qualifying leadership positions, subject to state review.


The Florida Department of Education scheduled finalist interviews for Oct. 29 and 30 in Tallahassee, with Florida's delegates and alternates expected to be announced in December.

In July, Bueter was one of two students chosen to represent Florida at the American Legion Auxiliary Girls Nation program in Washington, D.C. Her peers elected her Senate Floor Majority Leader. She met with Florida's U.S. senators and visited the White House during the event, which followed a competitive selection at Girls State in Tallahassee involving approximately 300 students.

Bueter plays for a Gulliver water polo program that has won multiple state titles. The school's athletic accomplishments page lists girls' water polo state championships in 2001, 2002, 2003, 2004, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2008, 2013 and 2025. That's 10 in program history. The FHSAA's 2026 state championship preview listed Gulliver as the defending girls' champion entering the April 2026 tournament.

Bueter plans to study political science in college, according to the Gulliver profile. The USSYP delegate announcement is expected in December.