About the only part of Wednesday’s political forum at Central Kitsap High School (CKHS) that deviated into any sort of theatrics was when 23rd Leg. District, Position 2 candidate Mark Lowe — answering a student’s question on local education — summed up his point with a pointed finger at U.S. House of Representatives candidate Larry Ishmael that caught the Republican off-guard for a few moments.

But mudslinging was kept to a minimum as several candiates for government positions on all levels convened at the CKHS theater to discuss what they do, why they’re doing it and what are the issues affecting teenagers.

The forum was organized by Russ Schuchart, a social studies and history teacher at CKHS.

One of his colleagues organized a forum for candidates to speak at and help students gain an insight into the governmental process back in 2004, his first year at CKHS, and he took the reins for this election year.

Schuchart, who placed a “ton of phone calls and e-mails” to get people to come to the event and coordinated everyone’s schedules to be at the high school at the same time, was impressed with the response.

“It’s been really, really positive,” he said. “It’s the high season for campaigning and they’ve all been really good” in responding.

The list of attendees included Kitsap County Commissioner candidates Republican Sandra LaCelle for Dist. 1 and Tim Matthes for Dist. 2; 23rd Leg. District Rep. Christine Rolfes (D-Bainbridge Island) and her Republican challenger Lowe; Republican candidate Ishmael; and Kitsap County Republican Chairman Jack Hamilton and Jim Sommerhauser from Kitsap County Democrats.

In three different sessions, the candidates gave some insight into how they came to be involved in politics, what their duties are and took on some tough questions.

All of them said they felt they would never be running for office, because all took different routes to get where they’re at. LaCelle even admitted she never got involved with her student government at high school because she was too shy at the time.

But her earning a college degree at 29 while supporting a husband and raising two kids — one of whom has developmental disabilities — gave her inspiration to expand her horizons.

Most of the candidates did get their start in student government, with Rolfes also giving some advice about not being deterred when one runs for an office for the first time and loses — referring to when she lost for student body vice president to a fellow student who is now a good friend.

The questions students asked varied from gay rights to the current state of the ferry system to the separation of church and state. But many revolved around the economy and education and there were some tough ones.

One question — posed by a teacher — was asked of Rolfes and Lowe on how they would handle the problem of the state’s Department of Social and Health Services (DSHS), which has come under fire for its inability to handle cases, yet takes up a good chunk of the state budget with its annual costs of $600 million.

Rolfes said Gov. Chris Gregoire was making progress with cuts to get DSHS under control and said she believed talking with employees to figure out where to make cuts was a good way to go.

Lowe’s response was to cut away the unnecessary spending and privatizing of much of what DSHS does, referring to Kansas and what has been done with DSHS.

While many students won’t be eligible to vote, Schuchart still wanted to get them conscious of an important part of their lives, thereby “planting the seeds” to get involved in any way they can, especially with what’s going on right outside their door.

“It’s easier to get them to talk about bailouts and the war on terror,” he said. “The reality is that the county commissioners are just as impactful, if not more than a member of Congress. This is a chance to see those people face-to-face and hopefully develop that willingness to engage that person directly and not be passive about it.”

And all the guests reaffirmed that message of involvement to students.

“The people who are being elected this year and each successive year in election years are in fact setting the future of this country and dictating to a great degree how you will live in the future,” Hamilton said. “You need to be a part of that decision process.”