Jackson Kochowicz and Benjamin Rivera want you to know who your congressional representative is.
“It’s really surprising — if you go into an AP Gov class or an AP US History class, half the kids in there don’t know who represents them,” Kochowicz said. “And I just don’t think that’s right. I think kids should know.”
The Lane Tech Democrats is a new club to Lane and is currently the only democratic club, founded by seniors Rivera and Kochowicz. They are also a part of a larger group outside of Lane Tech called the High School Democrats of Illinois.
Rivera’s long interest in politics led him into creating the club. “I’ve always been into politics, and I feel like it’s such an important part of our lives, ” Rivera said. “There’s no way to escape it, and I think that people need to see that more.”
Kochowicz said he wanted to create the Lane Tech Democrats because he had become inspired to educate students. “Our club focuses on civic engagement and making sure we back Democrats to get in these elected official spots,” Kochowicz said.
Currently, the club has discussed what has happened within the ninth district of Illinois. “We as a club voted on the different people in that election, who we want to support and who we feel like is the best person, and we ended up endorsing a candidate from that race who we believe is the best,” Rivera said.
The Lane Tech Democrats help back these elected officials into their spots by building student connections to politics through field work. “Me and Ben are working on getting some of our students to lobbying workshops and to meet some elected officials at some really cool events,” Kochowicz said.
This lobbying is possible due to their affiliate High School Democrats of Illinois which is a political organization that acts as an entry point for democratic politics for students in Illinois.
Stated on their website, the members of the high school democrats work together “to advance the ideals of the Democratic Party, engage fellow students to become active within the local and national political system, and elect Democratic candidates to public office.”
Overall, the Lane Tech Democrats’ goal is to help people think more about politics.
“So whether you’re a strict Democrat or Republican, it’s an extremely safe space to talk about politics and to think in different ways,” Rivera said.
