A place for liberals, conservatives and everyone in between. It might seem far fetched, but that is exactly the aim of the organization Junior State of America (JSA). According to the official website, JSA’s mission is “to strengthen American democracy by educating and preparing high school students for life-long involvement and responsible leadership in a democratic society.”

Founded in 1934, JSA now has chapters all over the country with over 500,000 student leaders. Students organize every aspect of the club, from the chapter level all the way to state and national administration.

P-CEP’s chapter of JSA was started in 2016 by Salem senior Sneha Yarlagadda and Plymouth senior Kelly Ni. Through this club, they hope to spread awareness about the importance of being politically informed.

“A lot of students aren’t very involved or knowledgeable in our domestic or international political affairs. We decided to start this club to allow for discussion about social and political issues as well as raising awareness for them,” said Yarlagadda.

At their bi-monthly meetings, JSA members debate controversial and political topics such as abortion and capital punishment. They also discuss relevant and major events in politics, such as the presidential election.

“So far, my favorite topic that we debated is on the presidential campaign predictions and analysis,” said Akshay Jalluri, Canton freshman and JSA club member.

One of Co-President Ni’s favorite parts is also the discussions that occur, and the results of them. “My favorite part of JSA is probably just being able to see all the different viewpoints out there. It’s really eye opening and makes you think about what your own position is on those issues.” Ni said.

JSA meets every other week on Thursdays in Canton in Ms. Smiley’s room.