TOWAMENCIN – Over the course of the past few years, we have seen that the political parties are split further than they have been in a long time. More and more people are sticking to one side rather than finding something they agree on or seeking out why they feel that way. But people are trying to change that. Especially teenagers. 

Within North Penn, students have established clubs in order to get to know people that similarly politically align with them. The Democratic club and Republican club are the main groups, solely focusing on American bipartisanship. 

“I joined the [Democrats] club last year after getting more into politics once school closed in March 2020. I realized how much politics impacted people’s everyday lives and wanted to become more educated about it and help others learn more too,” the head of public relations for the Democrats club Caroline Guo said. 

Although these students have different political beliefs from one another, that does not mean they both dont enjoy the holiday spirit. Both clubs teamed up on Wednesday, December 15th after school in order to create a Christmas celebration complete with hot chocolate, homemade marshmallows and the iconic 2003 Christmas movie Elf.  

“The president of the Republican club, Grace Heller, invited us to work on cards for the elderly together and we decided we might as well make it a full-on bipartisan party for the holidays!” Guo explained with excitement. 

Under the wings of advisors Mrs. Lucia Vervoort for the Democrats Club, and Mr. Jereme Boucher for the Republicans Club, the students made Christmas cards for the elderly and got to spend time with people that usually are not their crowd. People at first were hesitant, only being with their friends, but as time went on, they warmed up to the idea of joining others, coming closer and bringing desks as well as themselves together. 

“The advisors, the rest of the club officers, and I are really happy with the way the party turned out; it was a good turn out, we made a lot of cards, and we got the two clubs’ members to start talking with each other,” Guo explained. 

Beautiful holiday cards came into existence and people started introducing themselves and each other. Even though the awkwardness was palpable, putting a group of non like-minded teenagers into a room, nevertheless, everyone got through it. By the end, laughter could be heard and conversation crescendoed. 

Students, regardless of political party, left having had some of the best marshmallows known to man and a fun-filled experience. Proving that it does not matter what political party an individual subscribes to, the holiday season should be a time of joy and coming together even under the most peculiar conditions. 

“I think it went really well and people had a good time even though it was a little awkward,” president of the Republican club Grace Heller said. 

“I really hope that no matter what the overall political climate is, these parties are tradition at the high school,” Guo said. 

Furthermore, there is even talk of a spring celebration bringing two groups together. 

“We’ve already started talking about doing something similar in the spring to act as a breath of fresh air between our debate and Mock Senate,” Guo said hopefully.