Junior Statesmen of America

What is JSA? For starters, it stands for the Junior Statesmen of America. The Junior Statesmen of America is a political organization dedicated to educating and encouraging high schoolers to take action about the current situations in the government, whatever they may be. JSA is the largest student run organization in the United States. JSA offers high schoolers the opportunity to learn more about current events, improve thief public speaking skills, and become more politically active. Members of JSA clubs get to participate in unique educational experiences, such as conventions, symposiums, and summerschool.
The whole organization is divided up into several “states” or regions, the state that our homeschool chapter is in is the Mid Atlantic State, or MAS for short. Our club, or chapter, is one of the two homeschooled chapters in the entire organization, the other being located in North Carolina. As a chapter, we plan debates, host speakers, and update and discuss current political issues. As a chapter, we also attend state and regional conventions, such as winter congress and spring state.
Conventions are no doubt the most fun part of JSA. With each convention for different seasons, that is, fall state, winter congress, and spring state, comes different subject matter. For example, fall state is all debates, winter congress is proposing and debating bills and resolutions, and spring state focuses on elections. So far, I have attended one fall state convention and one winter congress convention and will be attending spring state this April. Fall state was more of an attempt to get an idea of what a JSA convention was like, so I wasn’t very “active” in the discussions and debates there. However at winter congress, I was able to be the main representative for our chapter bill, and was able to speak and debate much more. Conventions are my personal favorite thing about JSA, as they offer a different environment with diverse opinions and discussions.
The last part of JSA is summerschool and symposiums. However, I have yet to attend either. JSA Summerschool offers students the opportunity to learn about the mechanics of the US government, and the history behind it. These courses are taught by renowned professors at Ivy League universities, where the summerschools are held. On the other hand, symposiums are fairly like conventions, except longer, and less populated. Symposiums offer more speakers, varying from police commissioners, to statesmen. In conclusion, JSA offers an excellent opportunity to participate in political activism.