This year AP government teachers Carey Petkoff and Emily Worland are promoting voting among their 18-year-old seniors by celebrating birthdays in political style. On their birthday, students will receive a booklet on new responsibilities associated with being an adult, such as managing credit scores and registering for the military draft. They will also be presented with a voting sticker, patriotic pencil and the paperwork needed to register to vote. Instead of commemorating being a legal citizen by going to a casino or buying cigarettes, students will be presented with a voting celebration.
“This is something where you get to celebrate an awesome virtue, instead of a vice,” Worland said.
Once registration is completed, Petkoff and Worland are taking it upon themselves to mail students voting paperwork to ensure that they can vote if they so choose. Worland is even tweeting pictures of her newest voters with #mhsvotes on their birthdays as a way of celebrating their entrance into the voting public.Senior Jeremy Gackle, who recently turned 18, said that although he was not interested in voting before this year, taking U.S. Government has made him more conscious of politics. He said that he will likely vote after Worland provided him with the necessary materials to vote on his birthday a few weeks ago.
“It’s nice to have the ease of access,” Gackle said. “Instead of having to find your own way to figure that all out, she gives you the means you need to get it done.”
In addition to encouraging their students to vote, Petkoff and Worland will continue to hold governor debate watching parties.
Some students will be voting in their first election this fall in the governor race between Republican Greg Abbott and Democrat Wendy Davis. Both Petkoff and Worland said they thought it was important that their students were informed before voting.
“Because there is such a big population within your age group that doesn’t necessarily identify with one side or the other, Republican or Democrat, I feel like the debate is important because you haven’t necessarily made up your mind in terms of specific issues,” Petkoff said.
Worland said that she has always wanted to promote voting in fun ways. However, she said it was the addition of Petkoff to AP Government this year that propelled the plan into action.
“The reason to have the debate watching parties would be to educate [students],” Petkoff said. “A lot of kids are apathetic because they feel like they don’t know enough to care.”
One cause of student apathy is the belief that students opinions don’t matter or that they can’t make a difference. However, Worland said that it is crucial that students, especially those of voting age, not be indifferent.
“If apathy continues, then liberty will dwindle,” Worland said. “We are already seeing that in some capacity in terms of the NSA and privacy.”
The most immediate way new student voters will be able to counteract that apathy is in the November gubernatorial election. Either candidate would be historic in their election. Abbott would be the first Texas governor to serve in office from a wheelchair, as he has been partially paralyzed since he was 26, while Davis would be only the third female governor of the state and the first Democrat in 20 years. Although it is not a national election, Worland said that the governorship will still have a large impact on the nation as a whole.
“The state of Texas is not just about us,” Worland said. “It’s really a national position in terms that we dictate so much of what education looks like and everything else.”
As such an important election approaches, Worland said that voting smart is the most important thing a student can do. Although the voting process can be intimidating for beginners, Petkoff said that the best thing students can do is go out and vote to get their first election under their belts.
“If you don’t know the particular issue, you don’t have to vote on that issue,” Worland said. “But vote in as many elections as you possibly can.”
