Junior StatementThe

Summer schools offer new perspectivePhoto by Lia Cromwell

Photo by Lia Cromwell

JSA summer school students pose outside the Captiol Building in Washington, D.C.

Nationwide, Fall State proves successfulBY HALEY STRACHER

Northeast State

Every year, on prominent col-lege campuses around the nation, JSA puts on summer schools for hundreds of year-round and new JSA students.

This past summer, programs took place on three campuses – Georgetown University, Stanford University, and Princeton University – for three to four weeks each, as well as in China for the first year ever.

Because most year-round JSAers are unaware of what sum-mer school actually is, it was quite a shock to them to experience some-thing so different from the usual con-vention routine.

Micaela Cirimeli from North-gate High School in Northern

California says of her experience, “Entering JSA summer school, I ex-pected a three week long convention. I found that the student run aspect is cast aside in order to emphasize the importance of political awareness, study, and activism.”

In addition, summer schools have proven a primary way to intro-duce new students to JSA.

“I had the most amazing expe-rience,” said Zach Haldeman of Wil-lard, Ohio. “Everything was new, everyone was nice, and it was all-around fun. My class was amazing, and I had the craziest, most awesome professor.”

“The speakers programs were great,” he continued. “It was just a wonderful experience that I’ll never forget, and never be able to recreate.”

Nearly every student agrees that each summer school is academically rigorous in its own right and that a summer school attendee is always on the go.

Students are quick to note that the term ‘summer school’ is somewhat misleading; courses are advanced rather than remedial. Quali-

fications vary by course and campus, but admissions are always highly competitive.

Still, summer school is not all work and no play – students have free time and Sundays off and they are free to spend them however they please.

Overall, students agree that summer school – while busy – is an

invaluable experience. The atmo-sphere is similar to that of college, making it the perfect opportunity for high school students to get a taste of what is to come.

As any JSAer can attest to, there is always much to be learned – both from the program and from peers – and the friends that one makes are for a lifetime.

Students experi-ence JSA beyond the high school setting

The 2010-2011 Midwest JSA year has had a fantastic start, prom-ising greater expansion and par-ticipation. Though there has been substantial development throughout the state, two schools’ chapters, Ar-rowhead High School and Neuqua Valley High School, have shown tre-mendous growth from Fall State and beyond.

Located within a small suburb of Milwaukee, Arrowhead boasts a fairly well-rounded and typical JSA chapter. Under the leadership of Ry-anne Olsen, Jordan McEvoy, Arun Srinivasan, Brian Payne, Lucy Mc-Collgan, Shawn Goggins, Paulette Hubbard, Patrick Eisenhower, and Lindsey Weber, however, Arrowhead is making its name known throughout the Midwest.

At each meeting, Arrowhead JSA students work on mainly formal debates and thought talks, as well simulating a mock election with re-spect to the 2010 midterms. With much time and effort, the students successfully held a mini-con at the school on October 16th, 2010, gar-nering about thirty students in atten-dance.

Arrowhead JSA member Angelo Porchetta noted that his favorite de-bate was the Prostitution Legalization debate.

All in all, this mini-con was a defining moment in Wisconsin JSA. Though the state has few JSA chap-ters, Arrowhead aims to revitalize them to strengthen Wisconsin mem-bership for future Midwest conven-tions.

The Naperville-Aurora in Il-linois is already well-known for yielding strong Midwest JSA leaders. Yet now, another school pushes to strengthen its stance in Midwest JSA representation.

Neuqua Valley’s JSA chapter, lo-cated in southern Naperville, has ex-perienced immense growth through-out the fall 2010 semester. Led by Aswin Sivaraman, Vikram Ramesh, Nesh Patel, George Luke, Krishna Yarramasu, Aneysha Bhat, and Puja Nigam, Neuqua’s JSA meetings con-sist of generally thought talks, cross-fires, formal debates, and occasion-ally guest speaker workshops.

“I have really enjoyed topics, such as the Dream Act and the Medal of Honor Taliban controversy, where points anywhere from economics to ethics can be incorporated into the discussion,” said JSA Member Tyler Rotche.

With a chapter membership ranging up to 150 students, Neuqua held a mini-con on November 6th, 2010, to connect its newest members with the regional realm of JSA.

As a step towards greater com-munity involvement, JSA teams from Neuqua Valley and Naperville North debated on October 28th, 2010, about term limits and districts, televised live on a local television station.

With Neuqua Valley and Arrow-head High Schools as mere examples, the Midwest State has truly made strides in the 2010-2011 school year.

BY ASWIN SIVARAMANMidwest State

Amidst the chaos at the start of the school year, JSAers across the country prepared for a politically en-gaging weekend at Fall State.

Offered by each JSA state throughout the nation, Fall State con-ventions were held in various loca-tionsn the month of November. This year’s theme was “Energizing Amer-ica: Capturing the Winds of Change.”

Kirstyn Petras of Culver Acad-emies in Indiana looked forward to the debates.

“When you bring together stu-dents with such a wide range of geographic and demographic differ-ence, new ideas and perspectives are brought forth,” explained Petras.

“It sounds cheesy, but the de-bates are really what make JSA what it is,” she added.

While the excitement of a

debate-filled weekend was shared throughout the country, each region offered unique activities that differ-entiate their weekend from those of other states.

“Where I live in Seattle, there is not much polit-ical diversity,” said Seidman. “Everyone is liberal, but the PNW as a whole is very politically di-verse. Fall State gives me a chance to hear views from across the political spectrum that I would not get to hear otherwise.”

Under the direction of a new cabinet each year, each state took Fall State as an opportunity to enhance the activities offered and enrich the expe-

BY SHRUTI KANNANNortheast State

rience overall.Midwest Governor Tony Cast-

agnoli expressed excitement in his preparations for Midwest Fall State, which took place in Milwaukee. Su-preme Court simulations were added

to the agenda in addition to the de-bates and thought talks of past years.

Fall State has long been a valu-able and enjoyable start to each JSA school year. When asked what they love most about the conventions, students’ answers were unanimous: “The people.”

Conventions provide a unique opportunity to take a break from the routine of high school, reunite with friends from summer school and dis-cuss current issues with students with

a passion for politics. Students couldn’t wait for

their region’s conventions, but they would not mind trying out some oth-ers. When JSAers were asked which state’s Fall State convention they would attend if given the option, an-swers varied as much as students’ po-litical views.

“I would go to NorCal, hands down,” said Seidman. “I want to see how [Jay] Moody runs things. At Georgetown [Session 1, 2009], Moody always talked about how he wanted to be governor. It’s been so exciting to watch him accomplish it.”

Despite curiosity, Leora Rosen-berg of High Tech High School in New Jersey remains loyal to her re-gion.

“I would go to MAS, of course,” she responded.

Regardless of the location, Fall State has fulfilled its purpose of unit-ing politically interested JSAers from across each region.

“It sounds cheesy, but the debates are re-ally what make JSA what it is.”

Kirstyn PetrasMidwest State

The Official Newspaper of the Junior State of AmericaVol. 1 Issue 1

Midwest sees promis-ing start