Making a Difference Through Civic Engagement

The word politics stems from two main Greek roots: poly, meaning “many,” and tics, meaning “bloodsuckers.”

Okay, not really, but after seeing recent news it’s easy to feel like that’s the most accurate definition. Politics is something that I’ve seen many students struggle to connect with, especially when it only ever seems to cause problems. However, people are increasingly becoming interested in politics for one main reason: It’s one of the easiest ways to make a change in the community.

Dual-enrollment teacher Rebecca Newman teaches these principles on a daily basis in her PVCC U.S. Government class, and actively encourages students to get involved in the civic process. “Democracy thrives only when citizens are actively involved,” she said. Newman added that “given the size of our community, a single student can be the catalyst for change…An individual student could potentially change any policy at the school, from dress code to gender identity issues.”

So how can students get involved? “Interested students should join a class or club that has a civic engagement component. A student with a specific issue might also bring their concerns to the public through petitions, demonstrations, letters, meetings with administration, and appearances at the School Board,” said Newman.

Examples of students doing this include “students appearing before the School Board to advocate for permission to compete in wrestling or a rainbow Fluco F. More organized examples include many of Mr. [David] Small’s programs, government-class based efforts to enfranchise 18-year-olds, and the activities of some clubs,” said Newman. However, while these opportunities to engage already exist, she noted that there’s “always room for improvement.”

High school opportunities for engagement can be expanded if a student decides to attend dual-enrollment classes or college. This is the case for two PVCC students who have just started their spring internships with the Campus Vote Project: Alex Flowers, a full-time PVCC student, and myself. As a dual-enrollment student at PVCC, I’ve had the opportunity to join the Civic Sense group, run by political science professor Connie Jorgenson.

In a normal year, our main goals would be to set up voter registration booths, attend local legislative meetings, and give presentations on why civic engagement is important. But this isn’t exactly a normal year. So what have we worked on instead?

With in-person meetings off the table, the Civic Sense group has been working on hosting and moderating a bipartisan political engagement panel that will be completely open to the public. The theme of the panel? Elected Officials Under 35: The Changing Face of Political Office.

Essentially, this panel will be an open discussion about how young people can get involved in their communities. The panelists are all young professionals, with either past or current experience in public office, and questions will be tailored to inform and inspire students to pursue public office in their futures.

Panelists include Pennsylvania CVP coordinator Chuck Black, Michigan CVP Coordinator Sumaiya Ahmed Sheikh, and city officials from Williamsburg and Marlborough. It will also include a public Q&A section.

The panel will be hosted on March 17 from 12 to 1 pm. Interested students can pre-register for this and other PVCC civic engagement events at this link: https://www.pvcc.edu/upcoming-events