Practicing Democracy with JSA

Tracy Thomas, manager of the Southern California Junior State of America (JSA) chapter, spoke to Anacapa students about the benefits of participating in JSA, the largest student-run organization in the nation. JSA’s mission, says Tracy, is to provide students with the skills and opportunity to “practice democracy” by engaging in intelligent and thoughtful conversations about the issues that matter most to them. JSA is active on over 500 campuses across the country, with opportunities in the spring and fall to gather with like-minded high school students and have some good old-fashioned debates about not-so old fashioned topics picked by the students themselves! Not only does participation look good on college applications but JSA provides students with crucial experience forming and clearly supporting opinions, a skill any teennager will agree is crucial.