On December 12th, Kingsway’s Model Congress Club, advised by Mr. Andrew Young, sent twenty-one students to the 2024-2025 New Jersey Model Congress (NJMC) Party Day.
Model Congress is a club where students get to “become” senators and representatives of Congress and enact legislative processes at conferences with other schools in their state. Each student picks a party to be in—Republican, Democratic, or Independent—and during the months from Party Day to Leadership Day to the year’s final, overnight conference, delegates will write a bill on a topic and view of their choice. This club is a great opportunity for students to learn about Parliamentary procedure— a unique debating process– interact with different perspectives and people, current events, and gain experience in law, politics, and public speaking.
Party Day, which occurred at the State House Annex in Trenton, NJ, was the first conference of three this year and focused on establishing each party’s views on important topics and issues in the country. During the conference, participants debated their opinions on six mandatory “planks”, or topics: Education, Healthcare, Environment, Foreign Relations, Immigration, and Economy. Furthermore, each party selected two additional planks to talk about. The Democratic Party chose Institutional Reform and Social & Criminal Justice Reform, while the Republican Party went with Civil Liberties and Government Sponsored Social Programs and the Independents discussed Social/Civil Justice and AI & Technology.
In addition to discussing plank views, parties elected two Party Leaders, which in turn selected four Whips. These leadership positions are crucial for the next conferences. Two of Kingsway’s very own, Addison Torres (grade 12) and Elaina Palenchar (grade 10) were chosen as Party Whips for the Republican and Independent parties, respectively.
Elaina, an Independent Party Whip, reflected on her experience during Party Day: “I really enjoyed Party Day. I got to be a part of really interesting debates and got to meet a lot of new people. I’m even more excited for Leadership Day because of it.”
Model Congress is a wonderful opportunity to get out into the world of politics and public speaking, and those who join can learn more about their country and how it works.