A voting age preventing anyone under 18 from politically influencing their country is no problem for the youth involved in the Young Progressives Club at LHS.

Meeting every Wednesday, these youngsters are lead by junior Max Peters in discussion on current events.

“I get up on the soapbox and talk about… current events [like] Puerto Rico, the Graham-Cassidy Healthcare Bill and the Syrian Refugee Crisis. We focus on one topic of interest and discuss it for about a half hour,” said Peters.

The club has been at LHS since early 2015 with Peters at the helm all the while.

“I cofounded the club with a few upperclassmen my freshman year,” said Peters. “We were all really interested in politics but were all looking for a way to be more involved. We initially thought there would be opposition within the administration to a political club forming… but they have been very open and accepting.”

After the club had been established, the only problem Peters and the gang were facing was attendance.

“Initially, we had around seven people come [to each meeting]. It started to die out… and for a few months, it completely died. After my debate season ended last year [in 2016], Courtney Merchant, Rachel Overstreet and I… sort of re-founded [the club],” said Peters.

In an effort to prevent the same decline from repeating, the leaders decided an open forum between two of the then school board candidates would draw a bigger crowd.

“Our record attendance increased to nine… This year [2017], the first meeting broke that record with 11 more people than the previous high. The current high is 21. We just keep growing and expanding,” said Peters.

As for the future, fellow re-founder Merchant has big plans.

“[We’ll have] more speakers, including my mom. [She was] a state senator for two years and she’s spoken at Harrisburg as well. Mostly speakers for the foreseeable future, possibly student refugees. Also, members [can start] giving shorter speeches on issues they care about, “ said Merchant.

The club offers valuable political discussion for students at LHS in a safe environment.

“It serves a very useful purpose in the school because we have a space where we can discuss the issues that are important [to us]. Among friends, you know?” said Peters.