JSA – Junior State of America

“A high school senior at Saint Mary’s Hall is one of 141 students nationwide to be named a U.S. Presidential Scholar this year. Anthony Kayruz, 18, was one of four Texans to get the distinction, according to a statement by U.S. Secretary of Education Arne Duncan released late Monday.” San Antonio Express News, 5/6/13, Francisco Vara-Orta

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“Tucked away in an office on Claremont Street in downtown San Mateo is the headquarters of Junior State, a nonpartisan nonprofit organization training America’s future political leaders since 1934.”  Read Full Article 

Congressman Gregorio Kilili Camacho Sablan’s office recently mentioned a visit by Junior Statesmen Students in their weekly newsletter:

The 2013 recipients of the Junior Statesmen of America scholarship from the Northern Mariana Islands visited their congressional office this week while in Washington for the week-long JSA Winter Congress 2013 program.  Maricar Valdez, Cecilia Xu, and Maria Theresa Dizon from Marianas High School, and Casey Demapan of Mount Carmel School were selected as this year’s winners. They were accompanied by Ms. Anastasia Hinds, JSA Assistant Speakers Program Director.  JSA Congress program is a student-run simulation where students take on the role of Members of Congress in order to better understand the legislative process by participating in it.

The recipients of the scholarships were members of the Junior State of America’s Program in US Territories and Freely Associated States. As part of this program, 24 of these students attended the Mid-Atlantic and Texas Winter Congress convention on February 22-24, 2013. Before joining the rest of the delegates, these students visited with the Department of the Interior’s Office of Insular Affairs to learn more about the mainland’s relationship to their homes, as well as the Department of Education, the embassies of the Freely Associated States, the White House, and the Capitol, where the territory students visited the offices of their delegates to Congress.

photo by: Randy L. Rasmussen

On February 9-10th, Pacific Northwest JSA members in Portland participated in the largest ever Winter Congress convention for their region. Newspaper reporters from The Oregonian were on hand to document the event.

“Portland High school students in suits and ties, dresses and heels flooded the Red Lion Hotel in Jantzen Beach on Sunday, but they were not there for a winter formal.

This group of 386 student members of Junior State of America gathered for the Pacific Northwest Winter Congress, a weekend convention as organized, deliberate and serious as any political gathering of folks twice their age.”  Read full article 

Students from Balboa and Lowell High School JSA chapters joined CEO Jeff Harris to hear from San Antonio, Texas Mayor Julian Castro and his brother speak to a sold out crowd. Members got a chance to meet the brothers afterward. Read the San Francisco Chronicle article..