The oncoming 2016 presidential election has swept in a tide of political discourse amongst students and teachers throughout Palatine High School. In Palatine High School’s first ever Political Action Club, students are now able to utilize their words, ideas, and beliefs in a way that can positively affect the school and community.

“We were in the middle of primary season, and although it seemed that everyone was interested in the presidential election, there wasn’t any way for them to actually get involved and make an impact,” Aidan Busch, a PHS senior who founded the new club, said. “PPAC was founded on the idea of participation: we want to get everyone involved in the political process in a way that is meaningful to them.”

Emily Hamman, who runs PPAC alongside Aidan, agrees that high school students should be aware of current issues in politics.

“Students are going to be voters one day, and we need educated voters to make good decisions,” she said, “they need to start realizing that this is their country, and that they should influence their government.”

PPAC aims to educate the student body about the inner workings of the democratic process, and also to make information about different political candidates easily accessible and comprehensible.

“One of our main goals is to spread awareness of the democratic process…” said Busch. “By engaging students through the use of videos, flyers, posters, and other materials, we hope to disseminate some of that information.”

PPAC’s efforts to raise awareness doesn’t stop at only the presidential election. The club is also set on informing individuals at PHS about local/state elections- one of those methods being through hands-on involvement with real campaigns.

“We want to give the students opportunities to participate in campaigning by working directly with some local congressional and senate campaigns!” Busch said.

PPAC has some big plans ahead: it is already in the works of hosting various school events such as a debate watch party, hallway decorating, and even trips for students through the Mikva challenge.

“The Mikva challenge is an organization that connects students with government and politics,” Hamman said, “we want to try and become an active member of the Mikva challenge and allow students to be active in the community and grow their interest about politics.”

Perhaps it is more important now than ever before for young people to start getting involved with politics since the 2016 presidential election will be the first presidential election in which Millennials have the same percentage of voters as Baby Boomers.

“The issues being debated will concern us someday soon if not right this moment,” Busch said, “and I think it’s imperative that students recognize this fact and take part in the dialogue. If young voters don’t make their voices heard, how can they expect any attention to be given to them?”