Missouri State Senator, John Lamping, visited CHS on Sept. 7, as the guest speaker for Politics Club. Over thirty students came to hear him explain local legislature.

During Lamping’s visit, he focused on how students can effect government. He promoted the club members to become more involved. One of his recommendations was to visit Jefferson City.

Apart from being a senator, Lamping has six children, three of which are adopted. He talked about his current work in the adoption process. Lamping hopes to reduce the amount of time children have to wait to get their new parents.

The Politics Club sponsor, Kurtis Werner, was pleased with Senator Lamping’s visit.

“He kind of brought his own life into the picture, and was trying to help other Missourians across the great state.”

Werner appreciated the way Lamping addressed the student questions.

“We did have a couple of pretty liberal students there asking about LGBT rights,” Werner said. “I think Senator Lamping didn’t dodge the issue. He addressed it as best he could without bringing too much of his political beliefs or spectrum into the picture.”

The students in politics club work hard to arrange for guest speakers. Senior Zach Praiss is one of the founding members of the club. He is in charge of finding guest speakers.

“It’s a long, tiring process,” Praiss said. “However, the reward of having a captivating speaker makes it all worthwhile.”

Praiss sends emails and letters out to dozens of local politicians. He hopes to hear back from Missouri Senators Roy Blunt and McCaskill this year.

From a student perspective, the guest speakers are a great way to learn about politics. Having people visit and talk allows students to see multiple viewpoints. It opens them to real problems in the community.

“I think that the guest speakers at Politics Club offer students the opportunity to open a dialog with some of their own politicians that represent their own district or region,” Praiss said.

Senator Lamping was a great start to the politics club year. Students who want to see politics out of the text book or off the TV screen shouldn’t miss these opportunities.