Junior State of America logo
The Junior State of America has been around since 1934, but the club was just introduced to our school last year by a student who has since graduated. This year, Senior Melissa Murph took over the club as president.
Murph states “I was really interested in becoming the president because I really believe in the mission of the club, and I wanted to help my fellow students learn more about politics and government.” Mr. Kyle Smith is the teacher sponsor of the club, and the current position-holding members are Vice President Robbie Hardy, Secretary Cierra Knight, Treasurer Sherry Kong, Publicity Director Maggie Johnson, Debate Director Bryce Anderson, and Fundraising Director Matthew Price. All are seniors, other than Kong, who is a sophomore. Johnson expanded on her role as Publicity Director, saying “I control the social media accounts of the North Augusta High School JSA and I help approve new members.”
The club meets every two to three weeks on Fridays through Zoom, but Murph said that once students start going to school five days a week, the club will start meeting in person. There is a $10 fee to join Junior State of America. However, Murph said, “Right now, we would like everyone who is interested to attend the meetings to see if the club is something that they would like to continue doing. We won’t be collecting the fee ‘til later in the year.” So, if you are interested in joining and learning more about our country and politics, do not hesitate to contact Mr. Smith or Murph so they can add you to the JSA group chat!
The club currently has over thirty members, and members have a wide variety of political beliefs. Johnson said, “I really like seeing the diversity of political stances at our school. Rather than it being a majority of super conservative people, there’s actually a healthy mix of liberals, conservatives, and libertarians.” The JSA is currently holding unofficial debates in their group chat where students debate each other and share their political opinions, and they plan on holding in-person debates soon. These debates help students practice their debate skills and learn more about their fellow members. Not only does the Junior State of America hold debates against each other, but they also debate against students from other schools across the country at conventions. These conventions are called Fall State, Winter Congress, and Spring State. Senior Elizabeth Herndon joined the club because of her interest in them. Herndon said, “I really enjoy debating and hearing other people’s opinions, and I was really interested in participating in debate competitions, so I decided to join the JSA.”
Murph had one last thing to say about the club that she runs. “The Junior State of America connects our school and brings us all together...It allows us to learn more about the issues that affect all of us and allows us to participate in peaceful debate.” If you have any interest in joining the Junior State of America, please contact her or Mr. Smith!
Comments