Concord High offers a presidential venue

Vilsack

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Iowa Gov. Tom Vilsack signed it this month. And before former Virginia governor Mark Warner decided not to run, he signed it.

The banner reads: "Concord High School: A Required Stop on the Road to the White House," and that's what students and school officials want to make it.

Since 1988, they've made their school auditorium, a mile from the State House, available to presidential hopefuls in this first-in-the-nation primary state, packed it with enthusiastic students, invited the media, and used its sound system and lights to create a tumultuous welcome for candidates.

Vilsack, the most recent visitor, was welcomed by cheering students as his theme song by the Four Tops played in the background. Students lined up six or seven deep to pepper him with questions while George Stephanopoulos and a national television crew looked on.

"I love a venue like that. The young people are just extraordinarily interested in everything in their future," Vilsack, a Democrat, said in a telephone interview after his appearance. "It just gives you all the faith in the world that young people do care."

Before the 2004 primary, every Democratic candidate except Al Sharpton and Dick Gephardt came to the school - and Gephardt planned to come, but withdrew from the race.

This year, students have met two potential candidates and hope to attract many more during 2007 - Democrats and Republicans.

"It's a politically charged school in a politically charged area. Everyone is just really involved in politics, and the school just reflects that," said Andrew Martone, a senior involved with the Presidential Candidates Club, which coordinates the visits.

Club members are now under pressure from their classmates to line up one of this season's biggest attractions, Illinois Sen. Barack Obama.

While other high schools across the state also host presidential candidates, Concord is making a concerted effort to market itself as a venue, mailing out invitations and press clippings to each of the campaigns.

When a candidate comes, students in the club make hand-painted banners, research and deliver an introduction, greet the news media, and prepare a gift from the school. In weekly after-school meetings, club members share reports of news coverage and critique the candidates and their presentations.

But involvement gives the students added insight. "You can see the stress behind it to make it a good event," said Sara Wilkinson, 16.

Before this primary campaign ends in 13 months, many of these students will join campaigns. But just like the adult activists in the state, they're scoping out their options for now.

Warner, also a Democrat, came to the school in September and is still surprised the auditorium remained packed during his Friday afternoon visit, when he figured teens might slip out the back door rather than sit through another assembly.

"I think it's great. I think a candidate would miss an opportunity not to take advantage of that," he said. "It's clearly a school, like most New Hampshire folks, that takes the role of the critical first-in-the-nation primary very seriously."

In 1999, several students discovered Al Gore had been misquoted at his Concord High appearance, leading to corrections in The New York Times and The Washington Post.

The club's adviser is Joanne McGlynn, a former assistant principal who recently returned to the classroom, where among other things, she teaches media literacy.

She's among the faculty who decided to invite all the potential candidates back in 1988 and then gathered interested students to prepare a welcome.

For Vilsack's visit, that included stringing coat hangers into the school's American and New Hampshire flags so they hung just so and lining up drama students to run lights and sound.

"I always wanted students to be involved and to believe they can make a difference," McGlynn said. "I think they feel very empowered to ask their questions." (next page »)