PRESIDENTIAL: Good morning my fellow Americans.My name is Anna Mouras and I am running to be your President, alongside Vice Presidential candidate Michael Scalisi. It is my pleasure to be standing here today in front of you, the future of America, to reassure you that I am the ideal Presidential candidate. My life experiences have blessed me with strength and versatility. One of the biggest challenges that I have faced was moving from Greece to the US when I was still young and already dealing with the challenges of my age. This shaped me into a powerful woman who knows how to deal with multiple issues simultaneously, while maintaining a great social image and still being open and able to help others. All in all, I am hardly intimidated by hardships and I always find positive outcomes from any situation. What is more, I have plenty of experience with public speaking, including placing fifth at the Poetry Out Loud regionals, hosting Fragments’ Open Mic Night as the club’s editor, enducting National Art Honors Society and French Honors Society members as part of both leadership councils, being the most interviewed person by Mepham’s Broadcasting and more. You can count on me for representing your beliefs and wishes with excellent clarity and precision. I can also represent my people in three different languages, in English, in Greek (στα ελληνικα), and in French (en français).Now I ask you, wouldn’t you want your leader to possess those qualities? Using these qualities, my team and I will combat the hot issues that concern the United States today. One of those issues is the fragile state of our current foreign policy. ISIS is a terrorist group that was formed in 2004 after the fall of al Qaeda, that has terrorized not only the United States, but many nations worldwide. In 2018 alone, there have been over 400 terroristic incidents with over 2,000 fatalities. These numbers are chilling and unacceptable. What is especially threatening about groups like ISIS is their unpredictability and their ability to slide in and strike whenever and wherever. ISIS targets other countries that are not culturally and religiously identical to their twisted and extreme practices of Islam. Western countries, like the US, are a huge target for this terrorist group. Our way of life, morals, and civilization are those different from the ideals of ISIS which inspire them to create terror. It has been so easy for them to catch us off guard multiple times and we must be able to prevent that. Thus, like our Vice Presidential candidate Michael Scalisi stated in his speech, we must be ready to defend our nation at any cost while maintaining the appropriate friendly relationships with other nations. The immediate actions that we must take in order to prevent future Isis attacks are firstly, to strengthen security throughout the nation. That means, airports, concerts, festivals, and any other types of events or places where large crowds gather, which is what Isis targets usually. Metal detectors, more regulation on what people can bring to events and just background checks when needed. It is important to note that we support fairness and we fight for it, which leaves absolutely no room for discrimination of any kind when enforcing the measures stemming from our foreign policy. Furthermore, regarding North Korea, we find the crisis to be threatening, but it is safer to avoid sparking tension. The situation is similar to ISIS because of our government and our privilege of living in a democracy is different from Korea's communist workings. Our differences are currently creating tension and we want to stop that. Certainly, we like to stay true to our beliefs and we will defend ourselves as much as we possibly can, if need be. It is risky to initiate an attack when there is no reason, but we will not hold back and remain inactive if an attack is launched upon us.
Another issue we aspire to tackle is our $21 trillion debt. In order to regulate our economy we need to start cutting from certain budgets. $1.203 trillion of our government’s spending is called discretionary, which is what Congress can control and it is not part of our mandatory spending, which makes it more logical to cut from there. It is difficult to cut from any budget, but we are in a tight spot and we must make some tough decisions. That being said, we must focus on what we need to spend the most on right now and be selective. We need to cut spending and we will reevaluate all of the programs that we are spending money on from our defense budget to agriculture, public works, and education to make the necessary changes to help us decrease our debt. For example, Canada faced a near double-digit budget deficit in the 1990s. By acting upon the problems and reducing its budget, Canada was able to reduce its debt to 0 within three years of their efforts. They also cut its public debt by one-third in five years, without even raising taxes. Our country’s debt is evidently overwhelming, and therefore cannot be paid off in totality during my time in office. But my team’s actions will give the United States a significant start to its removal.And lastly, we must talk about our education system. Let me begin with some uncomfortable statistics. Every 26 seconds in the United States, a child drops out of high school. Despite considering ourselves world leaders, our country ranks 22 out of 27 developed countries in terms of graduation rates. Our high dropout rate doesn’t just affect the future of individual children, it affects us all. Dropping out from high school is associated with negative employment and life outcomes. Young people who dropout of high school are unlikely to have the minimum skills and credentials necessary to function in today’s increasingly complex society and technology-dependent workplace. And what causes this decrease in graduation rates? Lack of motivation is a big factor. And that lack of motivation comes from lack of representation in lessons and assessments. Students do not see a point in receiving education when there is only but a predetermined single path they can take. There are different types of intelligence, ranging from logical/mathematical, to linguistic, to interpersonal. Just because someone learns through problem-solving, it doesn’t mean that they are smarter than a person who learns through words. Different people receive learning differently, and that should be taken into consideration and action at schools. This will not only motivate students to learn but it will increase the amount of information and knowledge they take in, and that will prepare them even better for college, and later on their careers as well.
Another significant topic to be touched upon is safety in schools. Unfortunately, nowadays many schools have experienced fatal shootings, like the one in Parkland, Florida. Let us be inspired by the unfathomable strength these kids have shown and let us make sure that this will never happen again. In order to accomplish this, school visitors must inform the school prior their visit, they must provide the school with proper identification, and they must have a member of the school’s staff to confirm their visit. In this way we make schools safer by controlling who enters and blocking possible intruders.
With all of this being said, I am here to represent all of you. Only in unity will we accomplish the change we wish to see in our world. My team and I will always make sure to listen to your ideas and complaints. If we all respect each other and our rights, we will go far. And trust me when I say, coming together is the first step to success. Thank you all for your time, and never forget to fight for your right.
VICE PRESIDENTIAL: Good morning, everyone. My name is Michael Benjamin Scalisi and I am running for Vice President of the United States of America alongside Presidential Candidate Anna Mouras. I am here today to talk to all of you, to talk about why I believe that I am the ideal candidate to be your vice president. I am a person who possess strong leadership skills. A person who listens, watches, and thinks about ways to change issues in our country. I am just like you, a student, a teenager, and someone who has dealt with pretty hard situations throughout their lifetime. After the events I went through I came out a changed person, a more emotional, sensitive, but strong and aware Michael then I was before. There's nothing I like more than seeing people happy and I promise you that I will make this whole school and country happy. When deciding things, I always think about the people. Will this benefit the people? Will it make them happy? I listen. I always Listen. No ones opinion will ever overpower someone else's. My heart will take everything into account. In today's society, some government officials are corrupted, plagued with scandals and bad reputations. But my team and I are here to change all of that, starting here. Each one of us are ready to create a space of equality, peace, power, and courage. It doesn't matter if you're gay, straight, light skinned, dark skinned, tall, short, or different in any way. We are all equal. We all have a voice. And if I am elected, I promise that every single person will have a voice and change will be upon us.
As former President Theodore Roosevelt said, “In any moment of decision, the best thing you can do is the right thing, the next best thing is the wrong thing, and the worst thing you can do is nothing.” Characteristics of Theodore Roosevelt consisted of hard work, dedication to family, quiet religious adherence, and a willingness to help the fellow man. He was driven, well-educated, and relentless. He became the nation’s youngest president after McKinley’s assassination, and took on the economic empire in the US by pursuing a campaign of trust-busting. He once gave a speech with a bullet in his chest.
We find our ideals reflected in the words and actions of former President Theodore Roosevelt. He was a strong presence in every room that inspired understanding and trust in people. We want bring the same hard work and dedication he expressed to his people, especially in this crucial time that our world is going through right now.
As for foreign policy, President Roosevelt famously said, “Speak softly, and carry a big stick.”, which means that we shall maintain friendly relationships with other nations, but we will always be prepared to defend our nation at any cost. Especially at this time when ISIS is a major terrorizing threat to the United States, we must maintain the strength our nation has shown time and time again, and be ready to fight for our country’s safety.
Roosevelt loved the environment very much. During his time as president he established 5 national parks, created 51 federal created four national game reserves, dedicated over 100 million acres of national forests, and created 18 national monuments, including the Grand Canyon. His passion to protect the environment is as strong as my passion to protect and improve the nations education. I believe the testing system should be heavily revised. Common Core is defined as a set of educational standards for teaching and testing, but these standards do not represent all types of students. Our country is made up of many different types of intelligent and creative talents that cannot be accounted for in standardized testing. Unique creativity and personal skills can not all be portrayed if everyone takes the same exact exam. We promise to make sure that learning and test taking bring out the best in all.
Our nation needs to start being more conscious about our enormous debt. We want to stabilize our 23 trillion dollars that we owe to ensure future economic safety for this country. As the rich get richer and the middle class get richer, the lower class is staying the same. We will find a way to control the extremes in order to prevent the disruption that is destroying the balanced system of the economic classes. But if this continues, we want to find a way to help provide for and improve the lower class just like all the others. We Americans need to unite together, especially in these politically segregated times. I promise you I will pay attention to your complaints, comments, and feelings. Together we can make our country more superior than ever. Yes it may take time and no one is perfect but if we dont start now nothing will be accomplished. I am here to leave a mark and create that change for our current America. But also for times ahead, so we can leave a united path for future generations.