How to Join the Junior State of America

The Junior State of America (JSA) is a national organization that operates on high school campuses across the country. The program's goal is to prepare students of diverse political leanings to play an active, responsible role in our democratic society. Founded in 1934 and formerly known as the Junior Statesmen of America, JSA's activity spans from debates at the school chapter level to regional and national meetings and conventions.

Difficulty: Moderate

Instructions

1. Read about JSA on the Junior State of America website (see Resources below). Learn about its history, mission and structure. From there, you can sign up to join an active chapter in your high school.

2. Ask your principal or social studies teacher if there has been any history or interest in having a JSA chapter in your high school if a program is not present. Otherwise, get the go-ahead from your principal and recruit a teacher and interested students to organize a chapter.

3. Download the JSA Chapter Startup Guide from the website (see Resources below).

4. Call [phone] to request JSA handbooks, introductory brochures, tax forms and other materials for you and others who wish to join.

5. Following the guidelines in the Startup Guide to recruit members, organize a Founder's Meeting and write a Chapter Constitution (see Resources below).

6. Organize your first meeting, collect a tax from at least 8 members, and send in the taxes and your ratified constitution to JSA, 400 South El Camino Real, Suite 300, San Mateo, CA 94402 to receive your charter in return.

7. Organize your first chapter debates and spread the word through school and community papers, websites, local organizations and email.

Tips & Warnings

• Involve an enthusiastic teacher from the outset to help identify students who may be interested in participating in a new chapter. JSA can be a lively supplement to a high school's social studies curriculum.
• If your school does not already have a JSA chapter, you can always begin one by contacting the national office on the Junior State of America website.

Resources

• Junior State of America website
• JSA Chapter Start Up Guide

[ArtMorgan]

on 5/3/2008 This is a great summary of the steps necessary to start a new JSA chapter. However, note that the website links above under the Resources section are out of date. Just go to JSA.org, and click on "Join/Start a Chapter" on the right-hand side. This will take you to all the guides, forms, and contact info that you need.