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Washington School kids receive lesson on ‘Participatory Budgeting'

Beverly Barela

May 13, 2021 |

Merced County Times |

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800-1500 Words

Response Location: United States, Merced County, California

Student leaders formed the Participatory Budget Committee at a Merced River School and ran the voting process for students decide which initiatives would be funded. The students had a budget of $5,000 to allocate and used actual county voting booths. The winning project was the modernization of campus restrooms. Students learned about participatory budgeting and brainstormed a set of four projects they felt were most needed at the school. They held regular meetings, highlighting the importance of civic involvement.

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‘What difference would that make?'

Kiran Misra

April 30, 2021 |

The Chicago Reader |

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1500-3000 Words

Response Location: United States, Chicago, Illinois

A participatory budgeting pilot in ten Chicago Public Schools empowers students to influence change by deciding how small grants, typically $1,000 to $2,000, should be spent for school improvement. Students brainstorm ideas, construct persuasive proposals, and vote on which to implement, providing valuable lessons in civic participation. The proposals revealed student needs that staff hadn’t previously considered. Ultimately, grants supported gender-neutral bathrooms, locker room shower curtains, a peer mentoring program, and spaces for students to reflect and decompress when feeling overwhelmed.

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Local groups are working to keep 18-year-olds in PA excited about voting after record turnouts in 2021

Roxanne Patel Shepelavy

April 01, 2021 |

The Philadelphia Citizen |

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1500-3000 Words

Response Location: United States, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania

Philly Youth Vote is a nonpartisan effort, organized by a local social studies teacher, to prepare 18-year-olds to vote. In addition to registering about 700 students in the summer of 2020, the group advocates changing social studies curriculum to include more lessons on civic participation. To connect students with on local issues that directly impact them, they brought 27 candidates to speak in 11 virtual classrooms. The students interviewed the candidates and other schools have used the recordings of the interviews as well. 74% of registered 18-year-olds in Philadelphia cast a ballot in 2020.

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Monterey County kickstarts Youth Civic Engagement Program

Sydney Brown

February 26, 2021 |

Voices of Monterey Bay |

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1500-3000 Words

Response Location: United States, Monterey Bay, California

College students in Monterey Bay are pairing up with K-12 classrooms to teach students about civic engagement. The college students are then invited to give presentations during class time on topics ranging from the census to environmental justice. The program is a partnership between California State University - Monterey Bay and the Monterey County Office of Education, and also helps students fulfill a required community service credits.

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The Next Best Thing

Ilyne Junuén Castellanos

February 05, 2021 |

Voices of Monterey Bay |

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800-1500 Words

Response Location: United States, Monterey Bay, California

Efforts aimed at recruiting student poll workers, some of whom aren’t yet eligible to vote, increased due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Monterey County ran registration drives, spoke in classrooms and other student-oriented events, and participated in California’s High School Voter Education Weeks, ultimately recruiting 107 students. The Georgia Youth Poll Worker Project used social media to recruit 1,000 young poll workers across the state. The organization is compiling “The Hitchhiker’s Guide to Starting a Poll Worker Project” to help other organizations similarly recruit and train young poll workers.

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How Youth Turned the Tide in the 2020 Election

Levi Pulkkinen

December 30, 2020 |

Yes! Magazine |

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1500-3000 Words

Response Location: United States, Seattle, Washington

A team of young people helped Kirsten Harris-Talley win a seat in the Washington state legislature. The 63 young people, ages 12 to 22, did more than the traditional behind the scenes work, like phone banking and door knocking. Rather, the young campaign workers participated in strategy meetings, ran the campaign’s Instagram account, and shaped the campaign’s climate justice and youth rights platforms. Ten of the young people were given paid fellowships and carried out responsibilities in all aspects of the campaign, such as voter engagement and fundraising.

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There is no Gen Z ‘enthusiasm' gap

Iliana Hagenah

December 10, 2020 |

Scalawag |

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1500-3000 Words

Response Location: United States, Mississippi

Civic engagement groups creatively encouraged young Black voters to vote. Mississippi Votes ran fellowships where local representatives educated young people on the political landscape of their state and used "geofencing," to share sample ballot links and precinct information on social media when users’ smartphones were within specific geographic locations. Engage Miami reached young people with "Get Out And Vote" TikTok videos, and partnering with social media influencers. In addition to registering thousands of new voters, both groups lent resources to youth voices in Black Lives Matters protests.

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Youth advocacy groups kept voters safe and informed on Election Day

Lauren Hernandez

November 13, 2020 |

Cronkite News - Arizona PBS |

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800-1500 Words

Response Location: United States, Arizona

Civic participation by youth advocacy groups registered tens of thousands of young voters and educated many more on election-related issues, including local and state ballot initiatives. Events held on zoom provided registration information and helped students connect with their peers, where they made pledges and plans to vote. Arizona PIRG Students New Voters Project educated 10,000 students this way, while CALPIRG Students' 500 volunteers registered 10,000 students, provided voter information to over 150,000 students, and made over 90,000 peer to peer Get Out the Vote contacts.

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Local high school students volunteer for national nonprofit to educate voters

Kathryn Goodwin

November 08, 2020 |

The Daily Tar Heel |

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Under 800 Words

Response Location: United States

MyVote organized over 300 student volunteers, mostly in high school, to research candidates and their policies so that voters could have a “one-stop-shop” platform to learn about policy platforms of candidates running in national and local elections. The group covered the policies of all candidates from North Carolina, Florida, and Pennsylvania and voters used the guides at the polls to educate themselves on the candidates and issues. Since many of the volunteers are not old enough to vote, carrying out the voter education research helped them get involved in ways that are useful to the democratic process.

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2020 is a curveball for civics. How Chicago classrooms are responding

Cassie Walker Burke

November 04, 2020 |

Chalkbeat Chicago |

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800-1500 Words

Response Location: United States, Chicago, Illinois

Chicago-area high school teachers are approaching the mental-toll of election cycles on their students by rethinking curricula. Some teachers are approaching election anxiety by hosting empathetic dialogues by addressing students' anxieties and exploring their individual powers. Students also completed lessons that required them to have conversations with the adults in their lives regarding general voting information. Other educators are placing emphasis on exploring media literacy and understanding online propaganda with students.

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