2025 NNSP Annual Conference

In the age of TikTok and Instagram, supporting and engaging students to become educated and involved citizens can be challenging. Many young people believe their vote will not matter and that decisions made by elected officials are not something that they can influence. We still teach kids today the same way that we did 50+ years ago where they go to one room for math and a different room for history and a different room for every other subject, but we live in a world that is more interconnected than ever._x000D_
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We have to meet students where they are and engage them on the issues that matter to them. We need to connect them to the process and show them how to access it so that they can see themselves as engaged citizens. The best way to do that is by actually making kids a part of the process. By encouraging students to work the polls on Election Day, they get to see the process up close. For my students, they quickly realized that the people who came in to vote at our school did not reflect the diversity of our neighborhood and school community. By working with students at the polls, they get to ask questions about the process, the candidates and different roles of all of the elected officials. They get to see first hand how the process works and begin to connect the issues to the process. Engaging kids before they leave high school provides the opportunity to connect them in a way they may not on their own._x000D_
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As a science and special education teacher at a very diverse comprehensive neighborhood high school in Philadelphia, and a degree in both political science and biology, I know all too well how disengaged students can be. Join us for a conversation about engaging students in civics outside of the history or social studies classroom and across a broad range of interests an abilities. Learn how inclusion is possible for students of diverse abilities and the excitement of kids engaging in the process, working the polls and voting for the first time.