Palo Alto high school student Alex Rosenberg considers himself to be an average student but the average highschooler doesn’t always have a political mindset and isn’t constantly thinking about our government and law. Rosenberg is a member of Paly’s Junior Statesmen of America club; which depends on its members to stay current with the political world.

The JSA is the largest student run organization in the U.S.; coast-to-coast over 16,000 students participate in the JSA through their high schools. The club is filled with members who are interested in politics, government, debate, law and education Rosenberg holds interest in all those things and in fact, over the summer he went to a JSA camp at Georgetown University where, according to Rosenberg, his political knowledge and debating skills improved.

"The camp was not only fun but it was something that set me aside from all the other [JSA] members at Paly," Rosenberg said.

JSA summer programs are held at various universities including; Princeton, Yale, Stanford, Georgetown and Northwestern.

"When I decided to attend the summer program I chose Georgetown because unlike the other universities, Georgetown offered a three week program rather than a four week program," Rosenberg said.

During this three-week period Rosenberg took advanced courses with college professors in AP U.S Government & Politics, U.S Foreign Policy, and Constitutional Law. Those who attend Georgetown’s summer school program experience hands on learning at the nations capital.

After attending the summer program at Georgetown, Rosenberg wanted to share his experience with the Paly community, with new ideas to help encourage more students to join the JSA.

"People complain all the time about politics, especially during this most recent election, but they don’t do anything about it," Rosenberg said. "They make statements and then do not take the initiative to make their words more important, by joining something like JSA."

When Rosenberg went to the JSA summer program he heard from his fellow peers that the JSA clubs at their high schools often had more than one hundred members while Paly has less than twenty.

"I know that the JSA members at Paly want to have a wide influence on others especially to help promote more students to join however, JSA is just not very well recognized at this point," Rosenberg said.

The Paly JSA club holds meetings one time a week on Wednesdays, during which they prepare for three important yearly conventions; Fall Congress, Winter Congress, and Spring Congress.

This year’s Fall Congress was held in San Jose and the Winter Congress is soon to be held in Sacramento.

"I’m excited for the Winter Congress because it’s going to be at our states capital and it should be a really neat experience," Rosenberg said.

Those interested in joining the JSA at Paly should contact club president, junior Jonathan Steinman or attend a meeting in room 306.