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In recent decades, young people's interest in politics has slowly declined, but with the upcoming election, students are getting more passionate about politics. "My favorite part about being in a group is being able to meet with kids who value the importance of politics as much as I do," Corri Gardner said.

As the presidential election approaches and many students become of legal voting age, students have become more engaged and passionate than ever. Students have formed a club that they call the “Young Democrats”.

The club was started by junior Corri Gardner, a student who has been a passionate young democrat for years.

“I started Young Democrats to give politically passionate students a group where they can share their views, learn more and encourage their fellow classmates to get involved as well,” Gardner said.

The club has drawn students from all grades to join, and come together to share political opinions.

“I joined the club because I am very interested in politics and want to continue to learn more,” sophomore Maya Yokanovich said.

Students and other young people make up a large part of the population, but research has shown that 18-29 year olds don’t have as much voter turnout compared to older demographics.

“I joined because I think political involvement is healthy and having groups like these at high schools make for a higher voter turnout at the polls,” junior Emmery Hartwig said.

One aspect of the club is the social experience of exchanging political ideas with friends.

“My favorite part of the club is how friendly everyone is and how we are educating people about both sides of the political spectrum,” Gardner said.

“So far being a part of the club hasn’t influenced my personal political views, but I have learned a lot in the group, for example more about each candidate,” Gardner said.

Twitter has been the center of students’ political debates recently, and often times, “twitter fights” occur when students disagree with opinions shared by others.

“I think students at Stillwater are extremely passionate about politics. Just read Twitter fights, and I think it’s important that people try to understand both sides of every issue before they make an informed decision,” Hartwig said.

Since the election is approaching, students are more politically charged than ever. Most students have opinions when there isn’t an election, so the presidential race really turns everything up a notch.

Because so many teens love TV, most students have been keeping up with the presidential race by watching the debates. Both the democratic and republican debates have been very captivating.

“I learn about politics by watching republican and democratic debates and reading about current events and forming my own opinion of them,” Hartwig said.

Even though there has been lots of creative ideas that come from students involved in politics, students can get very negative and judgmental towards others.

“I think a lot of students have strong political opinions, which is excellent, but I wish that people would hear others opinions out before shooting them down, which seems to be a common theme,” Hartwig said.

Although most students have only recently become interested in politics, some have been engaged in government for a long time.

“Ever since elementary school, I’ve enjoyed watching the news, so I’ve always been aware of social and political issues. I remember one day back before the 2008 presidential election my parents and I were watching Obama giving a speech and I automatically thought he was the coolest person in the world. I’m not sure if it was because he was such a good speaker or some other reason, but ever since then I’ve been hooked,” Gardner said.

Some students plan to relax their engagement in politics after the election, but others plan on remaining active.

“After the election, I will continue to be very involved with American politics. Political science has been my desired major in college for a while. This is only the start of my involvement in American politics,” Gardner said.

Students are passionate about politics, and their engagement today will serve as a platform for the future of government in America.