New York City, NY

Sunday, September 30, 2012

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE



September 16, 2012 – Westport, Connecticut – The Junior State of America held its 1st annual Northeast Fall Leadership Conference at Staples High School between 9:00 AM and 5:00 PM. Members of the Northeast Cabinet, chapter presidents and other future JSA leaders were invited to attended in order learn about leadership opportunities within JSA.

The Leadership Conference focused on chapter expansion, political activism, debate and other aspects to help leaders strengthen their JSA chapters. Chapter leaders were trained on how to promote JSA within their schools and attract new members to the organization. They learned the fundamentals of fundraising and were encouraged to pursue sponsorship opportunities, hold bake sales, and host benefit concerts.

During the Political Activism block, students were taught how to run voter registration drives within their communities, host mock elections within their schools. Members were also encouraged to hold "debate watches" in their schools, watching debates collectively as a JSA chapter and use social media to communicate with JSA members throughout the country during the debate.

"Student leaders gathered to discuss ways in which they could promote the 2012 Elections, civic engagement, and political action within their schools and communities. It was very productive – I'm excited to see all of the activities each JSA chapter will be hosting in the coming months" said Linda Wang, Empire Constitution Region Activism Director and the Chapter President of the Brooklyn Technical JSA chapter.

Northeast Expansion Directors ran expansion workshops, teaching students how to promote the clubs within their communities and encourage neighboring schools to get involved in JSA. "Our team helped communicate how every single JSAer can take a part in expansion by reaching out to politically engaged acquaintances. Going over the talking points was particularly effective" said Doug Russ, Director of NE Expansion.

The event also featured an advanced debate workshop in which leaders were taught how to teach their members to articulate their ideas and promote critical thinking within their schools. "The Debate Department spoke with members about effective argumentative skills – we focused on both the skills of argumentation and presentation" said David Cahn, NE Executive Director of Debate.

Overall, the event was a huge success. "Our mission was to get student leaders involved in the organization" said NES Chief of Staff Mike Holtz. "Younger members learned from experienced Junior Statesmean about getting politically involved in the democratic process." NES Convention Coordinator Caleb Hersh agreed, saying, "It's important that newer students get involved in running the organization. We have a responsibility to train the next generation of NES JSA leaders.

Junior State of America (JSA): 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. In the student-run Junior State and at JSA summer schools and summer institutes, participants learn statesmanship as they engage in political discourse. –Should use the standard JSA pitch Jeff included in previous email: Providing civics education and leadership programs for nearly 80 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 10,000 members. The JSA program is supported by the Junior Statesmen Foundation Inc., a 501(c)(3) tax-exempt educational corporation, which provides guidance to JSA's student leaders. It has offices in San Mateo, Calif., and Washington, D.C. More information is available at http://www.jsa.org/ or jsa@jsa.org.

Jack Cahn

National Director of Public Relations

Junior State of America

New York City, NY

347-266-4575