Rob Glynn. First Time Voter.

For the past three years I have required all of my students to visit the polls on Election Day in November. For each of the years, I tweaked the assignment to stay relevant and meaningful for the different years and types of elections. Today I decided to organize the information into one place that held the unit plan that I use to engage the students in the concept of Political Participation and the work that resulted.

The process of having students visit their local polling place and engage with the voting public on Election Day is one of my favorite activities. I call it their Citizenship Homework. The act of crossing the threshold of the polling place, see it in action dramatically increases their likelihood of venturing out later in life when they are of age to vote. I believe in encouraging students to vote but more so, I do not want them to ‘not vote’ because they are unaware or unsure or uninformed. For some students this activity is one of their favorites and for others it is quite mundane, but at the end of it all, they are learning in real spaces where the real world is functioning. For me… that is #sogood.

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