It’s never too early to become an informed and active member of your community!
This year from Monday, March 2–Friday, March 6, NYC public school students from kindergarten through twelfth grade will celebrate the second annual Civics Week, including the 2020 Student Voter Registration Drive.
During this week, students across the City will celebrate youth voice, civic empowerment, and the importance of registering to vote. Each school’s celebrations will be unique, but school communities will be planning activities that strengthen student voice, build school community, and allow civic participation to flourish.
The DOE’s Civics for All initiative teaches students the importance of the democratic process and community input, and our Student Voter Registration Drive plays an important role in this effort. (Photo Credit: Michael Appleton, Mayoral Photography Office)
This year’s Civics Week activities will include:
- the 2020 Student Voter Registration Drive;
- the second annual Civics Week Poster Contest;
- Participatory Budgeting (PB) votes (students decide how to use grant funds to improve their schools);
- Public speaking competitions through Mikva Challenge’s Project Soapbox;
- letter writing campaigns;
- learning more about the 2020 Census;
- speeches from special guest speakers;
- and special civics-related projects and lessons.
The 2020 Student Voter Registration Drive will involve more of NYC’s high school students than ever before—in 2019, 17-year-olds in New York State gained the right to register to vote in upcoming elections, and this year, 16-year-old students are also eligible to pre-register for the first time! All of our high schools have received materials and lesson plans to support our students as they explore exercising their right to vote, political party platforms, and learn more about the roles of elected officials. Our students will also get to read advice on registering and voting from their peers in the first Youth Voter Guide created by City students for City students.
The DOE is committed to civic education as an essential part of every student’s core academic program. All of this year’s Civics Week activities complement the year-round work of Civics for All, the DOE’s comprehensive civic education initiative focused on supporting all of our students in their work as active, informed members of their communities.
On behalf of the DOE, we wish all of our students and educators a great Civics Week!
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