ROCHESTER, N.Y. (WROC) -- A group of Rochester Prep students hit the road earlier this month—heading to Albany to find support for their school’s funding. Among them, Gracie Simmons who says she wants to celebrate her chance to stand before our state legislators. "For one, it was very empo wering to be able to go and talk about our issues with very important people," Gracie says. The students with the Family Champions group at the high school prepared their talking points about Rochester charter schools getting a funding decrease for 2025. According to the New York Charter Schools Association, Rochester was the only community in the state affected due to the current cost-of-education funding formula, thus pushing area charter schools to operate in the red on a $226.74 per child deficit. "I gave them stories about how we had just lost a teacher recently, but you know, a lot of students may need some more help than others, but without those teachers, it’ll a little bit more difficult," Gracie explains to News 8's Mikhaela Singleton. With new students enrolling soon, Gracie says even though she as a senior won’t be here next year, she’s setting an example for her underclassmen on civic engagement and to speak up. "One very important thing in my life is advocacy. My parents definitely told me about this and told me that you should always advocate for yourself—whatever problem we may have—because no one else is going to do it for you," she says. "Some people may not be aware. Like some of the people we talked to in Albany didn't even know about this. Other times people may not care, so go out there and find the people who do care and speak up for yourself," she concludes. ...read more read less