Nashoba’s Political Awareness Club

“If you’re not aware, where are you?” – Official PAC Motto

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Nashoba’s PAC is a small club that meets weekly in Room 258. Their mission: to make Nashoba more politically aware, to expand the general knowledge of the U.S. government, and to foster interest in current events. Every Wednesday at 2:30, students will be found debating and discussing happenings of the government. They also produce videos and flyers to educate the school and attempt to boost attendance numbers.

The Political Awareness Club began in the 2010-2011 school year, when the Nashoba Republican Club decided to expand and incorporate people from all parts of the political view spectrum. None of the founding members still participate in the club, but that hasn’t stopped newer members from energetically discussing and debating on a weekly basis. “The club is definitely a student run organization,” said Mr. Sak.

The current president, Austin Tarullo, leads most of the meetings and manages to include PAC into his busy schedule, which includes the EMT program and Best Buddies Track. When he cannot make the meetings, Nick King, the club’s vice president, leads discussions and organizes projects.

Mr. Sakellarion thrives as the club advisor. He takes time to try and engage students in the current events of the world because he believes that, “more engaged teenagers results in more engaged adults. Few teenagers feel like they are engaged in the political process. My goal is just to get as many people in here talking about political issues, thinking about political issues.” Mr. Sak’s efforts are certainly not wasted; Nashoba PAC has had numerous discussions including comparing Pros and Cons of the Obama Administration and the status and direction of the Crimea situation. They have also hosted Mr. Cote for a question and answer session about administration policies and run a student survey. Results from the survey are shown in pie charts posted on bulletin boards around the school.

Austin, PAC’s president, leads the meetings and starts them off with a topic of discussion or a task for the day. The rest of the meetings are very free-form and anyone is allowed to speak up and get a voice in the discussion. “Although there might be a president and a vice president,” reflected King, “it’s a jointly run club through all the members.”