Alumni lead youth writing initiative write4change
Page 4 Conestoga High School, Berwyn PA, 19312
Volume 75 No. 2
November 11, 2024
Review: ‘White Bird’ is your reminder to be kind, always
’Stoga students take part in traditional Indian dance
PagE 8
Page 12
www.spoke.news
Trump wins presidency
Youth participate in 2024 presidential election, step up to political stage
Lily Chen/The SPOKE
Political presence: Lawn signs and banners decorate the tents of the Tredyffrin Township Democrats and Tredyffrin Republicans as members engage with residents on Community Day. Both groups hosted youth activities and encouraged attendees to learn more about their candidates.
By Miya Cao and Lily Chen, Co-Copy Editor and CoNews Editor Editor’s note: Young Republicans is currently not an active club at Conestoga. As of Nov. 7, The Associated Press calls Republican candidate Donald Trump the winner of the 2024 presidential election with 295 electoral votes, defeating Democratic candidate Kamala Harris who earned 226. The
day before, senior George Bové dropped off a mail-in ballot at a polling location for the election. He joined thousands of young voters across the country who cast a ballot for the first time. “I feel like we can do a lot more change than we think we can, even us who are 18, 25; high schoolers and college students,” Bové said. “If I think back to 2020, I have opinions about the 2020 election — even the 2016 election. But with that, it’s like I couldn’t really do anything about it so it was kind of all kept to myself. But now that I have a voice
here, there’s a lot that I’m opinionated about.” Leading up to the election, various students, clubs and local organizations promoted youth political participation through volunteering for campaigns, posting on social media, arranging registration drives and conducting political polls. Starting in September, the Young Democrats club worked with the Pennsylvania Democratic Party to canvass Chester County. Sophomore and club member Sukanya Menon went door to door with other club
members to contribute to causes she finds important. “I’m not able to vote, but nonetheless, it’s still really important to be involved,” Menon said. “Advocating for others is something I’m really, really passionate about, and human rights is something I’m really passionate about. Even though I can’t vote, there are multiple other things I can do, and canvassing is one of them.” Similarly, 2024 Pennsylvania Senate District 19 Republican candidate Duane Milne values youth civic engagement. Milne
first became involved in politics through volunteering. “It’s just great to see young people take an interest,” Milne said. “I started to be a volunteer for campaigns, and that is what got me interested and got me motivated to become part of the process. Even if it’s not something you do again, if nothing else, you will have much more awareness about politics and government.” As a Judge of Elections in Tredyffrin Township, Carol Clarke is responsible for setting, staffing and running her designated polling location, Precinct 630.
She recruits Conestoga students who are at least 17 years old to serve as student clerks on Election Day. In exchange for volunteer hours or payment, they are responsible for preparing and distributing ballots, writing in names, managing lines and helping voters as needed. “I am so encouraged, and I feel so positive after meeting and working with the young students because they’re smart, they’re curious, they want to know more, they want to help, they want to do things, they want to make this world a better place,” Clarke
said. “That just fills me with so much positive belief in the future of our country because they can make a difference.” Continued on page 3. Scan the QR code to watch an accompanying package
SRPRA finishes stage one, starts stage two of passenger rail restoration Saktisri Gowrishankar Staff Reporter
The Schuylkill River Passenger Rail Authority (SRPRA) is beginning the second phase of its passenger rail restoration project. Chester, Berks and Montgomery counties formed the informal Schuylkill River passenger rail committee after Congress passed the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law in November
2021. In June 2022, it formally established the SRPRA, which aims to reinstate passenger rail connecting Reading, Phoenixville, Philadelphia and nearby states. The project consists of three phases. Phase one focuses on examining previous attempts to reconstruct railways in the area, as well as developing a project scope, schedule and budget. Phase two involves determining a service
development plan, ridership forecasts, capital and operating costs, operation simulations and infrastructure improvements. Phase three addresses the engineering and design of the rail system and considers its predicted environmental impacts. Tom Frawley, executive director of the SRPRA, has worked on similar projects in the past and said that the authority has made rapid progress.
Saktisri Gowrishankar/The SPOKE
Expanding connections: Rails connect the Paoli station to stops in nearby areas, such as Malvern and Daylesford. Schuylkill River Passenger Rail Authority executive director Tom Frawley said that the lack of public transportation across the three involved counties motivated the creation of the passenger rail restoration project. It will build on the preexisting rail infrastructure.
“There have been projects where they were stuck in planning for 20 years or more,” Frawley said. “This isn’t like that. We’re not doing a bunch of work to put an interesting report on a shelf somewhere. This is very laser-focused on doing what we have to do to actually get the service running.” Marian Moskowitz, vice chair of the Chester County Board of Commissioners, said that the overall purposes of the project are to enable economic opportunities for county residents and reduce environmental harm by promoting the use of public transportation rather than personal vehicles. “This is a really good project, and it’s really good because we’re all rowing in the same direction. We all have the same goals, and our communities each benefit differently from the impact of returning regional rail,” Moskowitz said. “I love partnerships. I think it’s the way to move things forward in a responsible manner.” The organization will mainly build upon preexisting rail infrastructure across the three counties for the new services, including discontinued train stations and the Norfolk Southern freight rail. Frawley expects the rails to open to the public in 2029, running six round trips per day. In the mid-2030s, the SRPRA hopes to expand services to New York.
Saktisri Gowrishankar/The SPOKE
Station in the suburbs: A passenger train enters the Paoli train station. Chester, Berks and Montgomery counties joined together to create an official committee, eventually forming the formal Schuylkill River Passenger Rail Authority. The organization will restore passenger rail service across the involved counties with its current restoration project. “I feel personally invested in this project because I live in Chester County, so I want to see it succeed. I am confident that the interest that’s been expressed by so many people from all different types of backgrounds is an indicator that we are going to be successful,” Frawley said. “I think
it’s a wonderful thing that we can pursue a project that is essentially an ‘everybody wins.’” Sophomore Seth Kramer regularly uses SEPTA trains to travel to and from Philadelphia. He is optimistic about the project and hopes to use the passenger railway to reach Reading for concerts.
“I’ve had concerts or performances that are in Reading that I would have wanted to go to, but because Reading is almost an hour’s drive away from here, I couldn’t,” Kramer said. “But if there was a passenger rail line to Reading, it would be a lot easier for me to get there.”