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September 22, 2025 • 17 mins

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Speaker 1 (00:00):
The Michael Berry Show. I started getting emails and alerts
from folks on the national scale about something that was
happening in my own backyard of which I was not aware,
and that is that at Stratford High School in the
Spring Branch Independent School District, some young folks, after Charlie

(00:22):
Kirk's assassination, had applied for a Turning Point USA chapter.
And this woman, this liberal activist woman who presumably lives
in the neighborhood. She's part of a group called Spring
Branch Act Spring Branch Democrats. Her name is Natalie Herpin

(00:44):
that she had sent out an email to a group
of seven hundred and thirty people trying to shut down
this chapter. And I heard from A Cory Morrow, the
singer went to Stratford High School. He reached out to
me folks locally all the way up to the national level,
said you know, you need to know what's going on here.

(01:07):
And I thought, well, first of all, adults should not
be getting involved in kids organizations. If there was an
act of violence and you were stopping it, that'd be
one thing. But this is a group of kids starting
a chapter and an adult trying to butt in. This
is the worst This is bullying, is what it is.

(01:30):
One of the folks who applied for that chapter's name
is Jack Robertson, and I'm delighted to have him as
our guest. Jack, Welcome to the program.

Speaker 2 (01:40):
Howdy, missus Berry, thanks for having me on.

Speaker 1 (01:43):
So did I hear you're a freshman?

Speaker 2 (01:48):
No, sir, I am a junior at Shepard High School.

Speaker 1 (01:50):
You're a junior, Okay. I was about to say, that's
a lot to come blazing in and already be starting
a chapter. So tell me about what was going on
with you that you wanted to start this chapter. Why
did you want to do that? What led to that?

Speaker 2 (02:05):
So, you know, I got to give credit where credit
is due. There's two boys at my school that had
originally reached out to Turning Point to start the chapter,
and there is a group of about fourteen of us
really pushing for it, along with about three hundred others
that have engaged and given interest in the club. But

(02:25):
for me personally, you know, I love the idea of
the club and being able to be a leader for
the to other students at are school and hopefully inform,
advocate or excuse me, inform, educate and teach them to
advocate for themselves and what they believe in.

Speaker 1 (02:47):
And so, had you started a club before, how did
y'all know what the process was?

Speaker 2 (02:53):
No, sir, So this is my first club to like
officially start and not just join. But we've kind of
just been winging it and we've reached out to sponsors
and we've all last week we weren't in our homeroom period,
which were able to do. We were going around asking

(03:14):
teachers if they'd be willing to sponsor us, and we
were trying to just get the clubs started and do
what we needed to do.

Speaker 1 (03:21):
And the teachers that did I'm trying to remember was
one of them a soccer coach.

Speaker 2 (03:31):
I don't know exactly what their positions were, but they
were willing to help out and we appreciate that.

Speaker 1 (03:41):
Of Course, they've got a lot of things going on
already and now they're adding one more thing to their
plate and that's not an easy thing. So you go
and you get a sponsor. I guess you fill out
the paperwork. Y'all started an Instagram page. As I understand,
I don't know these things to be true. Jack, I'm
just telling you what's what's been written.

Speaker 2 (04:03):
You're on the right course.

Speaker 1 (04:04):
And then what happened.

Speaker 2 (04:07):
So we had reached out to potential sponsors and we
had talked about it on our group to me and
the word had gotten out about that, but they were
just potential, they weren't official yet. And then when the
news had leaked about that, things had changed a little bit.
We had gotten a little we had faced a little

(04:30):
bit of a setback. But besides that, it just kind
of motivated us to keep pushing and keep going forward,
and we reached out to some more teachers and got
teacher support.

Speaker 1 (04:40):
And that setback was that because of external pressures of
this this group I was mentioning, yes.

Speaker 2 (04:48):
Sir, it was, but that's that's being taken care of
now and that's out of our hands.

Speaker 1 (04:55):
And so what has been the response from your peers
when they found out because Charlie Kirk has been in
the news, TPA USA has been in the news, how
have your peers reacted, if at all, to this.

Speaker 2 (05:10):
So we've actually just been invigorated, I guess you could say,
you know, we've been inspired to keep going. We've been motivated.
We want to keep our heads up and just be
mature about it all of course, But we're just we're
trying to keep on pushing and get our clubs started,
and we've never felt more motivated to do so.

Speaker 1 (05:31):
And what do you hope to accomplish with this? What
would be a success?

Speaker 2 (05:37):
So with our club kind of a model or phrase
we're workshopping right now. I had said it earlier is inform, educate,
and advocate. And what that means is we want students
to We want to inform them about knowledge of events
happening in a local, national, and global scale. We want

(06:00):
to educate them on their rights, constitution, and the importance
of their voice and their vote. And we want to
inspire them to advocate for themselves so that when push
comes to shove or they're faced with discussion or setback,
they're able to stand firm and their values and their beliefs.
And we just we hope to create leaders for the

(06:22):
next generation.

Speaker 1 (06:25):
You know you're supposed to be nervous to be on
the radio. You don't seem terribly nervous.

Speaker 2 (06:30):
Jay, No, sir, I've got some pretty good parents that
have helped prepare me well.

Speaker 1 (06:37):
Folks know that my policy is I don't speak directly
to miners. I asked that the parents be brought in.
So I did have a nice long conversation with your
father yesterday evening last evening about all of this, and
obviously he's protective of his son and proud of his son,
but he was also eager that you share your story.

(07:00):
And I got to say, the fruit doesn't fall very
far from the tree. You must have very very good
parents because you say yes sir, no, sir, which puts
you ninety percent of the way to people liking you
before you ever start. So you've got very good parents.
I can already tell Jack, can you hold with me
for just a moment. I want to continue our conversation,

(07:22):
all right, Hang tig. Jack Robertson at Stratford High School.
The group that applied for the TPUSA chapter. There was
some outside interference. He's our guest coming out the big
honor to be living in the United States. Jack Robertson,
junior at Stratford High School in the Spring Branch Independent

(07:42):
School District, is part of a group of young folks
who applied for a Turning Point USA tp USA chapter
after Charlie Kirk was assassinated. They went around and followed
the procedures, got their sponsors and an outside group of
liberal left activist Spring Branch Independent School or Spring Branch Democrats,

(08:05):
tried to intervene, tried to stop the kids from starting
a group, which is just crazy to me, just crazy
to me. And maybe, you know what, maybe this will
turn out to be the first in a series of
challenges these young people will face and have to overcome
in order to be successful in their lives. Jack Robertson
as our guest, Jack, what has been the reaction of

(08:28):
young people You're a junior at the high school to
Charlie Kirk's assassination.

Speaker 2 (08:36):
Honestly, there's been lots of reactions about it. I remember
I was taking a quiz, so I wasn't able to
hear when it had first happened. But when I got
in my car after school, my friends had all called me,
texted me talking about what had happened, and we were
all scared because he was a wonderful leader for the
youth and America. And that seems to be the idea

(08:58):
that many people have had, is how can we continue
what he's started and continue his legacy to make sure
that his death does not just stayed away.

Speaker 1 (09:09):
You know, I think that's fair to say, you know,
I was a sophomore in high school when the Challenger
space shuttle exploded, and I remember it really really affected me.
And shortly after graduation from high school, the Berlin Wall
came down, and I remember, perhaps more so than today,

(09:32):
having a very heightened awareness of these major events and
how they were going to affect the world going forward.
And I think that this event is going to We'll
see what the reaction is, but in the early days,
I have to say it's an event that twenty thirty
years from now will still be talking about, not just
because of a trigger that was pulled, but because of

(09:55):
the awakening that occurred. Have you noticed that young people
are perhaps more eager to get involved now because of
this than maybe they would have been before.

Speaker 2 (10:07):
I would agree. I think it's awakened someone inside of people.
I think people want to stand up for what they
believe in more. They want to make sure that what
Charlie stood for continues. They want to make sure that
you know, their voices are heard and that what they
believe in is not just gonna get drowned out.

Speaker 1 (10:30):
So, without disclosing where it'll be or any of those details,
have y' all planned your first meeting. Have you had
your first meeting? When does that happen?

Speaker 2 (10:39):
So once we get officially recognized by the school, which
we're in the progress or process of doing this week,
but we're hoping to have our first meeting, ideally either
the end of this week or next week, and once
we do that it can be set up. It's gonna
be great. We're gonna have a location, we're gonna share
to the members. It's gonna work out.

Speaker 1 (11:01):
Jack. Have you thought about life after high school what
you'd like to do from there?

Speaker 2 (11:06):
Yes, sir, I'd probably like to go into business or law,
hopefully in Texas and a university.

Speaker 1 (11:14):
And do you have a Texas A and M history
in your family.

Speaker 2 (11:18):
Big time, yes, sir.

Speaker 1 (11:19):
And what would you like to study do you know?

Speaker 2 (11:23):
Probably business or law, those two speak to me. I
like to be able to have relationships and hopefully help people.

Speaker 1 (11:31):
And in the course of your high school experience, is
there a course you've taken a particular teacher that really
awakened in you this sort of activism, this desire to
engage obviously that comes from your home life, But has
there been one teacher that you would say that teacher
really lit a spark for me.

Speaker 2 (11:54):
Teachers not so much. They do a wonderful job at
teaching us and preparing us, but I haven't really been
inspired by them as much. The credit really goes to
my home life, my parents, my grandparents, the people around
me every day that have helped to raise me and
make me who I am.

Speaker 1 (12:10):
Good for you, now, this case has drawn attention across
the country, a lot of media coverage, a lot of
influencer coverage, a lot of Twitter commentary. Have you heard
from other chapters, from folks outside who've reached out to
y'all to inspire, to guide, to advise.

Speaker 2 (12:30):
So we've gotten word from just what Attorney General kN
Paxton has said, you know, telling us to keep our
heads up, and a lot of the other posts and
reposts about the viral Twitter post just encouraging the kids
to do keep going. And that's about all. Like the

(12:52):
direct communication we've had besides with you, which we're very
appreciative of, by the way, not just me, but the
whole club. And yeah, that's about That's about the communication
we've had.

Speaker 1 (13:04):
And would you like to give the names of some
of your buds in the group that are that are
fellow leaders so they can hear themselves mentioned.

Speaker 2 (13:12):
Yes, sir, so, there's about fourteen of us. I can
list them off. That's okay.

Speaker 1 (13:17):
Yeah, I want you to list them up, but I
want you to go real slow and use one word
to describe each one or one little little thing about
each one real quick.

Speaker 2 (13:27):
Yes, sir. So. There's Charlie Dina. He's a great leader
and one of my closest friends. There's Zachary Patrick. He
is another great leader. He's younger stepping up. Same with
Duncan Kirk. The same goes for him as Zachary, both
younger stepping up being great leaders. There's Callan Kirk, Duncan's brother,

(13:52):
and he is a great leader as well. Make sure
he keeps us on task. Then you have Kit Taylor.
Kit is very knowledge wise. He helps make sure that
we stay on the pask, just like Callan, and we
don't get sidetracked by the big things. You have Eloise
and Edie Mayhan, and they do a lot to make

(14:15):
sure that we know what we're doing. They communicate with
staff at our school and make sure that we're well
on schedule and things of that sort of know when
we're meeting. Same with Sarah Kate Oakland. She does the
same as them, takes notes, make sure that everybody's involved
and included. And then you have Addi Greenway. She helps

(14:37):
with social media and making sure that we appear nice
to the public. Then you've got Jake Curtin. Jake also
helps with notes and communication. Then there is I'm gonna
forget somebody.

Speaker 1 (14:53):
Uh oh, Jack, did you do this from memory? Yes, sir, Wow,
that it's impressive. That is super cool. Son. That is uh,
that is that is really really neat. I like that
a lot. I'm assuming you know about the event this
Wednesday evening.

Speaker 2 (15:16):
I don't know if we're allowed to talk about that.

Speaker 1 (15:18):
Yet, right, so, uh yeah, I have. I have put
in a request while we've been talking to see if
if that's going to be public or private invitation only,
and if it is, I will announce it. I know
you've got to get into class and go learn and lead.
And what an honor you give me faith, Jack Robertson,

(15:40):
and you keep the faith because you give me faith
in the youth of this country. Well, thanks for taking
time for us. Fantastic conversation, Arion, Thank you so much.

Speaker 2 (15:50):
Thank you.

Speaker 1 (15:51):
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(16:14):
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(16:44):
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(17:08):
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(17:32):
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