The Franklin Reporter & Advocate Eight Villages, One Community
U.S. Rep. Bonnie Watson Coleman (D-12) spent about an hour with a group of Franklin High School students June 12, taking questions from them on a range of subjects from gun violence to the state of national politics.
Watson Coleman came at the invitation of the school’s Junior Statesmen of America club, an organization whose goal is to “get students talking about and more interested and active in politics,” said Craig Lewis, the club’s advisor.
The students did not lob any softball questions at Watson Coleman. They wanted to know her opinion on what could be done about gun violence, especially in schools, the growing rift between Congressional Democrats and Republicans, the recent summit between Pres. Donald Trump and North Korea’s leader, Kim Jung Un, and her thoughts on the recent relocation of the US embassy in Israel to Jerusalem, among many other topics.
“Whew, tough questions,” Watson Coleman said at one point.
Lewis, who also teaches Social Studies and AP Government and Politics, said he was happy with the turnout.
“We had a great turnout, lots of students showed up,” he said. “The questions they asked were thought-provoking and you could tell that they truly cared about the issues they were presenting to the Congresswoman.”
“I just wanted to bring the person who represents the students here to interact with the students and be able to share her thoughts on issues that they care most about,” he said.
Lewis said Watson Coleman has already been invited back for the next school year, and that he is contacting other local, state and federal elected officials to visit the club.
The JSA club is in its third year at FHS, Lewis said, and is “growing rapidly.”
“We have a lot of students who have expressed interest in joining the club, especially after an event like this,” he said. “We plan to grow and become more prominent here.”
The Franklin Reporter & Advocate live-streamed Watson Coleman’s visit:
https://www.facebook.com/franklinreporter/videos/1545428005568906/
