SHS's New Young Conservative Club
Written by Garret Berg, Former Student on Wednesday, December 16, 2015
With the new school year comes many new students and many new clubs. The newest and probably the most controversial this year is the Young Conservative Club or YCC. The club was founded by senior Evan Leonard with the help of senior Sam Salvadalena. DECA and personal finance teacher Ben Doucette is the advisor for the new club.
The clubs meetings usually start with the members signing in and then move to discussing current events. These can be anything from things happening close to home or across the country. After discussing current events, they will move to some more set topics and things going on in the country, such as gun control, immigration, taxes and most recently and probably most prevalent, the presidential race. Towards the end of the meeting, students will sit, hang out, and either keep discussion about the days topics going or just hang out and chat with their friends.
“[I started the club because I was] fed up with the left leaning social system in the school, Snohomish and the state in general,” said Leonard. Leonard saw the need for a place where students with conservative viewpoints could meet and have conversation about what’s going on around the school. Leonard spoke with Salvadalena, and they decided to go through with making the club addressing students' conservative viewpoints.
“[The main goal is to] provide a safe haven for students with a conservative viewpoint where they can discuss issues without the pressure of society, basically allowing the student to think freely,” said Leonard.
“Students shouldn’t be concerned that this is some sort of radical change group," said Doucette. "If students would like to learn and discuss issues with other conservatives, then is a good place.”
There has been a great turn out at both meetings they have had this year, with around 25 students attending the first meeting and almost 40 at the second. The club meets on specified Thursdays during panther period in the DECA room.
“As a first year it’s about getting the club on its feet," said Leonard, "but I want to see it stick around and become a bigger club like DECA, ASB, FBLA and other clubs alike.”
