A recent Harvard poll indicates that more than half of young Americans between the ages of 18 and 29 definitely plan on voting in this November’s Presidential election. For many high schoolers, this November will mark the first major election in which they will be eligible to vote, and excitement is high in HISD. High school students turned out by the dozens on Tuesday night to watch the debate between former president Donald Trump and Vice President Kamala Harris at several campus-based watch parties throughout the District.
Tag Archives: civic engagement
HISD students take the future in their hands at Civic Ambassador Training
At the end of July, high school students throughout the District came together for the first annual HISD Civic Ambassador Training. The brainchild of HISD’s Community Partnerships Department, the training offered students an opportunity to become their schools’ “Civic Ambassadors.” Over the three-day intensive program held at the University of Houston’s Downtown campus, students learned about the power of their votes, the importance of local elections, and the value of collaborating with their peers for the benefit of their community.
Continue readingLocal celebrities, organizations come together to encourage student voting at HISD Civic Youth Summit
HISD’s Family and Community Engagement (FACE) Department invited a number of HISD juniors and seniors to the My Ballot My Future Civic Youth Summit at Delmar Fieldhouse on May 14. Students were welcomed by bouncing bass and staff excitedly waving pompoms – not exactly what might be expected from an event focused on “boring” adult concepts like civic responsibility and voting.
Continue readingStudents Get Nearly 200 Commitments from Houston Voters through Phone Banks
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Simultaneous phone banks after school on Monday at Davis, Sharpstown, Chavez, Scarborough and Furr plus one earlier on Friday at the Sam Houston Math, Science & Technology Center (MSTC) resulted in 187 commitments from Houston voters promising to hit the polls on Election Day.
More than 100 students participated in the phone banks in collaboration with Mi Familia Vota, a national nonprofit organization geared to promote civic engagement.
“This was an excellent opportunity for our kids to contribute toward a good cause, one that will benefit everyone,” said Sharpstown High School Principal Rob Gasparello. “It is always good to work with the great folks from Mi Familia Vota. The students really enjoyed volunteering for this event.”
The students volunteered a couple of hours after school to call eligible voters in their communities to encourage them to vote on Tuesday and remind them to finish the ballot.
“We had great results across the board from students, teachers and staff,” said Will Hernandez, deputized volunteer for Mi Familia Vota. “Thank you to HISD for allowing us to collaborate on this project!”
Mi Familia Vota provided the students at each campus headsets and a computer program to help facilitate the phone bank, along with the list of contact numbers for voters in their surrounding areas.
Students from Davis High School previously participated on another phone bank with Mi Familia Vota on October 19 to promote civic engagement and placed over a thousand phone calls.
At Sam Houston MSTC, parents and students made hundreds of phone calls to Houston voters on November 2.