On Feb. 12-14, members of Central’s JSA chapter flew to Washington D.C. to participate in the annual Winter Congress.

JSA, which stands for Junior Statesmen of America, is a political organization for high school students. It aims to “strengthen American democracy by educating and preparing high school students for life-long involvement and responsible leadership in a democratic society,” according to their website.

JSA is composed of ten different regions, or states. The Midwest, Ohio River Valley and Southeast states were present at Winter Congress.

“Winter Congress is basically a mock Congress,” JSA President Kristine Xu said. “We split delegates up between House and Senate… just like the real thing. Delegates can write their own bills, and we spend a lot of time debating each bill and voting on it.”

In addition to passing bills, JSA’s own election season kicked off during Winter Congress. Xu is the Lieutenant Governor of Midwest JSA and oversees much of the process.

“My job… is to run elections every year. I’m the head of the Fair Elections Committee, which means that I make sure that anyone who wants to run for office can and that they have all the resources that they need,” Xu said.

Senior Anson Tong has been a member of JSA for all four years of high school, and she appreciates how easy it was to be a part of the organization.

“I really like how [JSA] is almost entirely student run, and how it offers a lot of different ways to be involved… like, if you don’t want to be debating or be a speaker, there are other ways you can help out at convention,” Tong said.

Tong herself is an example of the wide variety of positions students can hold in JSA. She is currently the Director of Publicity on the Midwest Cabinet.

“As [Director of Publicity], my main job is to reach out to keynote speakers, which we have at every one of our big conventions like Spring State or Winter Congress. I also promote JSA on social media and contact news stations,” Tong said.

Xu also commented on what sets JSA apart.

“When I first joined JSA, the thing that I drew me to it was that it’s not competitive. There’s no stress of winning anything. You just get to debate politics and talk about important issues, without the competitive environment,” Xu said.

When asked about her favorite part of Winter Congress, Tong took the opportunity to fulfill her duties as Director of Publicity and promote JSA.

“My favorite part of [Winter Congress] was actually just spending time with my chapter and getting to see the whole convention, which is really the product of students,” Tong said. “That’s what’s really great about JSA. I think freshmen- and really [people of] all grades- should join.”

Midwest JSA will hold their Spring State convention on April 16-17 in Schaumburg, IL.