For some, summer means no school, camp, outdoors, and fun. But, for other students, summer means helping those who aspire to be elected representatives for the people in our community.

This summer, the Missouri State senate seat for District 24 was open after Joan Bray’s term had ended after she served for eight years. Two of the candidates vying for the Democratic nomination in the primary were Sam Page and Barbara Fraser. Senior Dawn Androphy and junior Zach Praiss were two of many teens who helped with local political campaigns.

Page, a Democrat from Van Buren, MO, was elected representative of the 82nd district in the Missouri House in 2002. Androphy worked for his campaign. Fraser, also a Democrat, served as the Councilwoman of Saint Louis County’s Fifth District and is the Chair of the St. Louis County Council. Fraser supports life science research and entrepreneurship because it creates jobs. Praiss worked with the Fraser campaign.

Students contacted the campaign offices and asked how they could help. They got to help canvassing for their representatives and maybe sort some file work for them as well.

“For the campaign, I canvassed throughout different neighborhoods in the 24th district, made phone calls, and helped out around the campaign office,” Praiss said. “Then, I electioneered almost all day for the democratic primary back in August.”

Praiss said getting involved in a political campaign was a great experience.

“It really opened the door for me into understanding some of the political issues in St. Louis County,” Praiss said. “Most people follow national politics and what’s happening in Washington, D.C.; however, there’s a lot of political activity in our community and in Jefferson City that has a significant impact on our lives.”

At the same time, Androphy was at work with this Page’s campaign both in and out of the office.

“I worked both in the campaign office and in the field doing canvassing,” Androphy said. “Canvassing was very interesting for me because I was able to interact directly with voters and gauge their reactions.”

This job was she pursued. Although it was not exactly what she expected, she went in with optimism and commitment.

“I remember on my first day working in the office, I was expecting the type of really sleek office that one would imagine a relatively large-scale political campaign would be run out of, but it was actually just a very anonymous rented space near a strip mall,” Androphy said.

Although Page did not succeed in this election, Androphy was very pleased with what she gained from the summer’s work.

Fraser won the primary and will face Republican John Lamping in November. Lamping supports cutting tax credits that do not create jobs and wants to use this money to increase job training opportunities and small businesses

Androphy and Praiss were both pleased with the experiences that they had and both recommended this for young teens. Canvassing, file-work, phone calls, and more may seem like heavy work, but for Praiss and Androphy, this work was special.