Many people across the United States have become so fixated on the here and now, the future, and what the world will become that they often forget that the country has a long history that is the foundation to many of the country’s present values. The core of the country is founded upon basic values and rights.
Turning Point USA was started two years ago by Malachi Morris, an Ayala ‘23 graduate. Currently led by Christopher Chu (12) and advised by English 9 and 10 and AP Research teacher Mrs. Kimberly Barreras, Turning Point USA educates students about how they could further use the rights they are guaranteed by the country to exercise control over their freedoms.
Turning Point USA is an organization that promotes freedom to people globally as their mission is to identify, educate, train, and organize students to promote freedom. Ayala’s Turning Point USA club does this on a local level, showcasing and reflecting those values.
Since the country’s hardest core value is freedom, the club helps advocate this value towards students in school as they go about their daily life.
Their main point is to educate students about the importance of freedom, free markets, and limited government as well as being able to identify when the government begins to take away an individual’s rights to freedom and how that should be combated.
The club currently consists of about 35 members and their meetings are about worldwide issues, human rights, and current events in America which are held in room B111 every other Wednesday during lunch. There, students can further develop their understanding of what freedom really is and how they can project these understandings into real-world issues.
“I think [my favorite part is] just students coming together and kind of just exercising their free rights and knowing about the Constitution because a lot of students don’t know about it,” Barreras said.
Alongside teaching students their basic core values, Turning Point USA also makes it a point to reach out to other students who may not know about their rights and talk about the freedoms that they are guaranteed. By advocating this issue, more students are knowledgeable about their rights.
“We want to educate [students] to where they have a firm foundation of what they know and that they’re not shifted by society and trying to get them to fall out of the Constitution,” Club Vice President Emily Schott (12) said.
With learning all the values that our country has for everyone, this cultivates a community within the club that strengthens bonds between members and officers alike.
The club consists mostly of cross country members, so together, the students have created a tight circle that continues to grow all throughout the seasons and the years, as they support each other in both races and learn about their rights as a community. They do this by participating in debates where they split the room in half and debate on a certain topic regarding one’s rights and freedoms, as well as playing Kahoot games for knowledge and competition.
“I really like most of the members because …they always participate in the little debates that we all have, as you have a lot of activities of Kahoot games… and everyone really tries to participate. I really like that,” Chu said. “It kind of reminded me of the values we have in our country that makes our country stand out from any other place in the world.”
Values and community are an essential part of Turning Point USA’s ideals, and the club officers work hard to make this happen.
“I think that’s my favorite part, just remembering what our founding fathers did for us and how we should value that,” Schott said.
