JSA – Junior State of America

by Jacob Meisel

Northeast State Congress 2012 had it all – including a keynote address from Rep. Barney Frank (D-MA). Over the three-day long convention, there was a taste of everything political, from visiting the Capitol Building to debating real legislation. On the first day, with JSA chapters scattered throughout the Northeast arriving, a delegation of students went to attend the Capitol Hill Speakers Program, which could not have featured a wider array of ideologies. Continue Reading

Dr. Katie Langford, who has directed several JSA Summer School programs over the last decade, recently joined Courtney Byrd, JSA’s Director of Recruiting & Admissions on a visit to Palau, Guam, and Chuuk, and Pohnpei in the Federated States of Micronesia to recruit students to attend JSA Summer Schools. On each island, Dr. Langford and Ms. Byrd visited with students and educators at multiple high schools and with political leaders to discuss how Junior Statesmen’s Summer Programs build study skills, leadership skills, and confidence in the next generation of insular leaders. Continue Reading

By: Simone Klein

Though no longer the “Arab Spring,” tension in the Middle East continues today, especially in Syria.  For the first time since the beginning of protests, Syrian President Bashar al-Assad addressed Americans in an interview with ABC’s Barbara Walters on December 7. Continue Reading

By: Iman Baghai

377 Delegates from Washington, Oregon, and Idaho convened in Portland, Oregon for largest Winter Congress in PNW history. Winter Congress serves as a simulation of actual congress with students divided up as either Representative or Senators. During the first day delegates try to pass legislation that they created through both the House and Senate committees and if they are passed out of both committees they will then be debated on the main floor during the second day  when the delegates are again divided into either the House or Senate. Continue Reading

By: Kimberly Liu

Snow buried the streets and icicles glittered off rooftops after a frigid Chicago snowstorm swept through overnight. Yet dedicated JSAers braved the blizzard and trekked through the doors to attend Neuqua Valley’s annual chapter conference. This year’s theme, “Who is America?” prompted heated debate on resolutions that ranged from the voting rights of incarcerated felons to the elimination of the Pledge of Allegiance from public institutions.

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