The High School Voter Registration Recruitment Bandwagon [Voices of Democracy series]

You know those pesky adages like: “Assume Good Will” and “Don’t Take it Personally”. Well, dust them off as you recruit high schools to jump on the youth voter registration bandwagon.

I don’t know what it was like pre-pandemic, but it seems anecdotally, that a few history-social departments and Associated Student Body clubs were engaged in some kind of youth voter registration events. Those efforts seem to have varied greatly depending on individual schools and who on their staff had a personal commitment to this endeavor. However, that seems to have dropped off, and reviving it takes persistence and empathy.

I approached two school districts because of my personal relationship with them. I had retired from one and the other was the district my children attended and my grandchildren are attending.  

I took the same approach with both. I started with empathy. I know how awful the situation has been for two years. I know you have become caught up in the politics and science of masking, vaccinating, testing, quarantining, threats, disgruntled parents, lack of qualified substitute teachers, and fears of catching COVID. I know your staff has morale problems and many of your students seem depressed and disengaged. I then segued into our shared concern which is ensuring students' social and emotional well-being. I said, “so, I was thinking that when I feel the most down is when I feel helpless. I think it will actually help students if we remind them that their voice counts and the issues they care about can be addressed at the ballot box.”  

The other approach I used was to remind the teachers, administrators, and school board members that the California Secretary of State and the California Department of Education have their backs. This is the law in California that they, as educators, are helping implement. Sometimes I trotted out the California History Social Science content standards or Framework, but that really doesn’t address the specifics of a “drive”.  

At the end of the day, I met with modest success. I made a few new “friends” and other people who I thought would jump on this idea simply ignored me. I see this as a multi-year project. I will assist when asked, I will check back to see how it went and listen to learn what is needed to make it an annual event and even more successful. I will accept that it is not as widespread as I had hoped or even being conducted on the weeks I suggested for now. School districts can be K-12 or 7-12, high schools can be comprehensive high schools or alternative formats such as academies, alternative high schools and public school charter schools. This translates to a lot of different school cultures and governance systems to navigate. I have learned that the greatest thing I can offer is to help administrators and teachers navigate the  “how.”   

Even though I feel my success so far has been modest, I am not taking it personally, I am assuming good will, and I am inspired to keep striking up the band. 

Rachel worked in the Pomona Unified School District for 30 plus years. She taught elementary school and middle school for 14 years before she joined the District Professional Development Team, and was the Program Administrator for Instruction and Curriculum K-8 and Literacy Intervention K-12 before she retired in 2007.

The Civics Center’s “Voices of Democracy” blog series celebrates and highlights the voices that matter to us most: those of young people and those working with them to improve civic engagement and participation in our democracy.