Democratic representative hopeful speaks to AP Government class.As AP Government students filed into their classroom on May 28, it wasn’t government teacher Ben Recktenwald who stood in front of the class. Instead, it was politician Ro Khanna, who visited MVHS to speak to Recktenwald’s students during fourth period. Khanna, a Democrat running to represent California’s 17th District in Congress, is challenging the current incumbent, Democrat Mike Honda, for a seat in the House of Representatives next fall.
Khanna spoke about his experiences as the deputy assistant secretary in the U.S. Department of Commerce under the Obama administration. He also encouraged more of Recktenwald’s students to become involved in government; several MVHS students are currently volunteering in Khanna’s campaign, one of whom invited Khanna to speak at the school.
“I really want [MVHS students] to get involved in our campaign, and I really want to get young people excited about politics,” Khanna said. “It matters to their lives. They can make an impact on whether or not they can have high paying jobs or afford to go to college.”
When he finished his introduction, Khanna opened up the floor to questions from students. The class discussed a variety of topics ranging from LGBT rights and the economy to the November 2014 Congressional election.
“The students received [Khanna] respectfully,” Recktenwald said. “I was hoping to have more breadth of questions, but I think it was good.”
After visits from both Khanna and Honda — who attended Spotlite on India on May 24 — Recktenwald says he hopes to have more politicians visit in the future to enrich his classes’ curriculum.
To learn more about the candidate’s respective campaigns, visit www.rokhanna.com and www.mikehonda.org.
