JSA – Junior State of America

The winner of the sixth annual National Civic Impact Award is Downey High School from Downey, Calif.  The National Civic Impact Award recognizes the JSA chapter that has had the biggest impact on increasing the level of civic awareness and engagement at their school.  Read the full story

The Henry Mayo Newhall Fund has awarded $50,000 over two years to Junior State of America (JSA) for expansion of its outreach efforts to Santa Maria Valley high schools for participation in its high quality civics education programs.

Funding received from the Henry Mayo Newhall Foundation will specifically be used to provide one full scholarship and eight partial scholarships to enable students in the Santa Maria Joint Union High School District who would otherwise not be able to afford to attend JSA Summer School.    The primary public high schools in the area are Santa Maria High School, Pioneer Valley High School, and Ernest Righetti High School.

Rock Zieman, a JSA alumnus who graduated from St. Joseph High School in Santa Maria states that “My high school experience in Santa Maria was greatly enhanced by participating in Junior State of America.  JSA taught me how to stand up and be counted, to get off the sidelines and be part of our democracy.  I  had the good fortune of participating in the Washington DC Summer School at Georgetown.  The summer school gave me a front row seat to watch the wheels of our government turn.  It took me to the White House to see President Reagan, to the Capitol to meet with Congressional leaders, and to the Pentagon to meet top military brass.  All of a sudden, all the figures I had only read about in the headlines came to life in the flesh, thanks to JSA.  It’s had a profound impact on my life.  I am very glad that JSA will be returning to high schools in my hometown Santa Maria Valley, so this generation can have the same amazing opportunity I had.”

JSA Summer School offers a challenging, dynamic academic experience at three of the most prestigious universities in the world, Georgetown, Stanford, and Princeton.  JSA Summer School provides an advanced college curriculum, dynamic skills based leadership activities, and interactive sessions with prominent politicians, journalists, academicians and other opinion leaders.

The grant also provides for nine scholarships to JSA’s experiential and interactive speakers program-based Institute programs, including the California Institute on Politics and the Gene Burd Institute on Media and Politics.  The goal of the Santa Maria Valley Civic Engagement Program will be to allow a broad socio-economic spectrum of area students to attend these life-changing programs and return to their schools, families, and communities ready to be effective citizen leaders.

For more information, call 800-334-5353.

In keeping with JSA’s Spring State Convention theme – “Revolutionizing Democracy: Yesterday, Today and Tomorrow” – former Illinois Gov. Rod Blagojevich will deliver a keynote address and students will debate current political issues and the future of democracy around the world. Read the full story

Sen. Scott White Introduces Bill to Lower Voting Age for School Board Elections

For Immediate Release
For Information: Jesse Seidman — (206) 605-3061

Olympia, Wash., Feb. 7, 2011–On Monday, Jan. 31, Washington State Senator Scott White (D-46) introduced landmark legislation in Olympia that could give Washington State’s high school students far greater influence over their education. Read the full story

For Immediate Release
For more information: Jeff Harris – (800) 334-5353

JSA Honored by National Journal and The Atlantic for Promoting Bipartisanship

Washington, D.C., Jan. 25, 2011 — The media organizations National Journal and The Atlantic honored JSA by donating $5,000 to the organization. The check was given at a Congressional Reception hosted at the Library of Congress prior to the State of the Union. National Journal and The Atlantic chose JSA as recipients of the donation because JSA promotes democracy and bipartisanship in high schools across the nation.

In the wake of the Tucson, Ariz. shootings, National Journal and The Atlantic wanted to highlight an organization that seeks to improve civil discourse in American politics.  Terence Samuel, congressional editor of National Journal, presented the check to Jeff Harris, chief executive of JSA.

The focus of the reception was new members of the 112th Congress and was the first of its kind. The event took place in the Madison Building of the Library of Congress. 

National Journal has been Washington’s premier source of nonpartisan insight on politics and policy for more than four decades and The Atlantic is a multimedia forum on the most critical issues of the times, from politics, business and the economy, to technology, arts and culture. National Journal and The Atlantic are published by the Atlantic Media Co.

NOTE TO EDITORS
A high-resolution (300 dpi) JPEG file of a Jeff Harris, JSA CEO and Justin B. Smith, President of the Atlantic Media Company is available at http://jsa.org/wp-content/uploads/Jeff-Harris-Justin-Smith.jpg

ABOUT JSA
Providing civics education and leadership programs for more than 75 years, JSA is the largest student-run organization in the United States.  School-year programs take place in more than 450 secondary schools in 35 states, with more than 10,500 dues paying members. Students have developed 10 “states” around the country that have their own political conventions and three-branch governments, with elected “governors,” “legislators,” “judiciary” and “cabinet members.” During the summer, JSA provides three-week summer schools that teach political science, government, constitutional law, international relations and speech communication courses on college campuses such as Georgetown, Princeton and Stanford universities, and well as one-week institutes focused on topics such as media and leadership, at schools such as the UCLA, Princeton, and Arizona State.  In 2010 the group launched its first overseas effort, the JSA Diplomat Program at Capital Normal University in Beijing, China. The JSA program is supported by the Junior Statesmen Foundation Inc., a 501(c)(3) tax-exempt educational corporation, which provides student the guidance and mentoring to run their own programs and administers the summer programs and institutes. It has offices in San Mateo, Calif., and Washington, D.C. More information is available at http://www.jsa.org/ or jsa@jsa.org.

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