On Thursday October 24, the MRHS Political Action Club hosted a debate for the Cape and Islands State Senate seat, featuring incumbent Democrat Julian Cyr, Republican Christopher Lauzon, and Independent Joe Van Nes. Student panelists developed and asked questions on important topics, and student ran all aspects of the debate, from timers to the moderator, Hillevi Segerson. Watch the debate here:
You can see an interview with Cape Media News after the debate here:
And you can read an Cape Cod Chronicle article about the date here:
Students Show Skills In Running Senate Debate
by Mackenzie Blue
HARWICH – State senate candidates were center stage last Thursday, but the real spotlight was on Monomoy Regional High School’s students.
From lights to camera to audio to timing, students singlehandedly ran and hosted a topical debate — a longstanding tradition that dates back to 1998 — between incumbent Democrat Julian Cyr and challengers Christopher Lauzon, a Republican, and Independent Joe Van Nes. The three are vying for the Cape and Islands senate seat in the Nov. 5 election.
“Something we’ve tried to develop here is this ability for kids to have real experiences in politics,” said John Dickson, a Monomoy High history teacher and organizer of the event, “so to have the candidates for state senate seat actually in front of them, debating the issues, makes it real in terms of what an election is, who these people are who end up on the ballot and the issues they talk about.”
At the helm of the event was the school’s political action club, a nonpartisan group run by Dickson that meets biweekly to discuss political issues in the news. When asked why he joined the club, student Sean Needham said, “It was a new experience and something I would look forward to doing in the future.”
Dickson views the debate as a growth opportunity for his students. “It’s a really heady experience, especially to be a moderator, to be the one in charge up there with these people who are fighting for a job and you’re the one who is kind of their boss for the time,” he said.
Roles are determined by Dickson’s assessment and students’ level of engagement.
Senior Hillevi Segerson was assigned the role of moderator and kept the candidates on track, interrupting on a few occasions for time limits. A panel of three students — Sean Needham, Aubrie Schneeberger and Sophia Milan — asked questions predetermined by the club.
On their process for authoring the questions, Schneeberger said, “We had a couple meetings, just brainstorming, figuring out the wording and how to cover a bunch of topics that are relevant with such little time.”
Each candidate stayed true to their platform, with Cyr calling upon his eight years of experience in office, Lauzon remarking on his homegrown roots as a mechanic in Marstons Mills and Van Nes reiterating his intent to revise a provision that only recognizes farmers as landowners with eight acres or more.
Topics included short-term rental restrictions, climate change, MCAS graduation determination, women’s rights, mental health, wastewater, LGBTQ students, income inequality and poverty and childcare.
In an interview conducted after the debate, the panelists and moderator agreed it went well and there would be a lot of discussion in their upcoming classes. “I think a lot of our teachers will talk about it just because a lot of our grade, as seniors, are able to vote and they are trying to influence us into doing that,” Milan said.
Schneeberger added that she thinks more students will be following the results of the senate race now that they have seen the candidates and heard their positions.
Anecdotally, the crowd was clearly bewildered by Van Nes, the independent candidate. His negative view on standardized testing received an uproar of applause while his support for bitcoin as a leading currency was met with murmurs of confusion.
“[The discussions after the debate] will be enhanced by having the independent candidate because he was different,” said Dickson.
Hillevi was pleasantly surprised with the audience turnout, and by the end of the debate, they were ready to debrief with their classmates.
“I think we’ll talk predictions and about what issues are most important to us and how we think the candidates handled them or will handle them in the future,” they said. “I think the point of the club is to look to the future and that we want to be a part of what we can, even though most of us can’t vote yet.”
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