Every election year, the John F. Kennedy Presidential Library and Museum hosts a non-partisan program to engage approximately 1,000 high school juniors and seniors in the current election and to educate them about the positions of the two major parties on the important issues of the day. This year’s program focused on the Massachusetts gubernatorial election. In the first part of the morning, students met in small groups to discuss and debate the issues that were of concern to them and their communities. After the small group discussion, the students reconvened as a large group for a town hall-style debate with representatives of the Republicanand Democratic parties.
This past October, twenty-seven schools came from as far as Williamstown, MA (Mt. Greylock Regional High School) and as close as Dorchester (J.D. O’Bryant School of Math and Science) to participate in the five gubernatorial debate programs. Debaters included Peter Torkildsen (former Republican Congressman), Shannon O’Brien (former State Treasurer, and 2004 Democratic gubernatorial candidate), Jarrett Barrios (State Senator from Cambridge), and Avi Nelson (political analyst and former Republican candidate for Congress and the Senate). Students were genuinely excited to participate. One social studies teacher from Austin Prep commented, “Two young ladies—one in my economics AP class and one in the AP Government class—sought me out today to tell me that the whole group unanimously voted this ‘the best field trip EVER in their 12 years of school.’ High praise from some definite skeptics.”
For more information about our election-year debate program, contact Nina Tisch at 617-514-1647 or Nina.Tisch@nara.gov