MCHS to hold annual Chautauqua event
Honors American Studies students prepare for annual “meeting of the minds”
Speaking at last year’s Chautauqua event, now-senior Allie Jacobsen calls on audience members to discuss political topics on November 15 in the West Auditorium. Jacobsen was the chairperson alongside fellow classmate panelists.
November 18, 2019
The annual Chautauqua event will take place on November 21-22 in each campus’s respective auditoriums.
East and West juniors in Honors American Studies classes study all semester for the project. The students choose an American figure who range from Barbie to Donald Trump and put themselves in the mindset of that person. In that person’s perspective, the students have to argue a political topic, regardless of their personal opinion on the topic.
This year’s political topics include “should Planned Parenthood continue to be funded by the government”, “Should prisons rehabilitate their inmates”, and “should the US be responsible for giving immigrants equal opportunities in the US”.
“A lot of the students have a lot of fun with [Chautauqua],” says junior Greyson Siminak, whose character is Bob Ross. “They love dressing up as characters and it’s really good engagement for seeing what students are interested in as far as news and recent topics. It’s a really good way to open up students’ engagement into politics.”
Chautauqua is an all-day event, and students will be excused from all other classes on those days to take place in the event.
