Overwhelmed with navigating their first election, schools prime first-time voting students to put ‘a civic foot forward’

Entering adulthood, applying for colleges, worry over school work and the social dynamics of high school — there’s. no shortage of stressors in an 18-year-old’s life.

Add the uncertainty and anxiety of the upcoming election, and many find themselves lost.

“I feel stressed,” said Rogers High School senior Aaliyah McClendon, 18. “I know who I’m voting for, I still need to lock in, like, focusing in on what I need to do, like Common App essays and three AP classes, literally everything else.”

To many, the responsibility weighs on their teenage shoulders. Community School senior Everest Lozzi, 18, said he’s excited, but won’t feel ready to vote until he fills the bubbles on his ballot.

“I do have a responsibility. Since before I was even a teenager, people were saying, ‘Our generation will ruin the world,’ and we have to fix it, that whole deal. Like, ‘It’s your job as youth to fix it,’ “ Lozzi said. “Not to say that it’s all my job, but I am put on the world, and we only have one life to live, as it would seem. I’m gonna try to do my best while I’m here.”

Dill Nelsen, 18-year-old senior at the Community School in Spokane Public Schools, likens the vote for president to a life-and-death decision.

“Putting that amount of thought into it, it basically comes down to the same amount of existential dread that I feel whenever I think about the course of life overall,” the first-time voter said.

That’s where schools come in. As government institutions where kids spend most of their waking hours, schools prioritize guiding pupils towards active citizenship and assuage some of the doom surrounding the election.

At least, that’s what educators hope.

Mock elections, comprehensive voters’ guides, hosting debates and registering peers to vote are all ways local schools are preparing future and first-time voters to confidently cast their ballots.

‘Starting early’ at North Central

Before citizens even begin to think of how they’ll fill out ballots, they must first register to vote.

For North Central High School students ages 16-18, that process was made easy this election. Students from civics and leadership clubs set up tables during lunch periods offering voter registration forms to their eligible peers.

On one day in October, 80 North Central students registered, taking a few moments from their meal break to fill out the form.

Norm Luther, who has hosted registration events at 16 schools around the county in an effort to increase registration for young people, led the effort along with school staff. The 88-year-old volunteer feels it’s critical to be active in passing the baton.

“That’s how to make sure our democracy continues, and that’s not something that anybody should take for granted,” Luther said. “Starting out early I think can help a habit to be formed, so it’s really important.”

Luther leads participating students through training, teaching them how to be nonpartisan so they don’t tell their peers how to vote, “only to vote,” Luther said. He doesn’t tell them which party he aligns with, either.

Though she won’t be old enough to vote this year, North Central junior Ashley Henry is encouraged to register her peers who are.

“Especially this election year, a lot of people are heated and are really wanting to get more into politics,” Henry said. “I’m glad that we’re getting a younger base into it, especially the younger 18-, 19-year-olds, because really, their opinions are a big part of the upcoming years.”

‘A civic foot forward’ at Community School

The Washington Secretary of State’s Office has some competition: 70 high schoolers at The Community School, a project-based option school in West Central.

Students there are tasked with creating their own comprehensive election guide, “by future voters, for future voters,” the chronicle reads.

Akin to the pamphlet accompanying ballots in Washington mailboxes, it’s 40 pages of content outlining election details from candidates and ballot measures, as well as topics like the electoral college and gerrymandering.

“The main thing that this class specifically has given me is just, like, a little bit of a framework to view me being a voter now, how that’s gonna relate to me trying to vote and me trying to basically say my message,” Lozzi said.

As they compile information on candidate positions, kids learn where to seek reputable information. Teaching duo Nathan Seaburg and David Egly introduce them to fact-checking sites and those that rate media outlets on bias and credibility.

At the end of the project, they’ll vote in a mock election, though many seniors will also cast a vote in the real election. The designated time to explore complicated political issues is a relief to kids feeling overwhelmed by the choices ahead of them, what they’ve been told is “a pretty big deal, as far as elections are concerned.”

“Being able to say, ‘Hey, the first time I ever got to vote was in this huge, giant election,’ it’s a pretty cool thing to do, just to get my message across,” Lozzi said. “Start my life as an adult by putting a civic foot forward, doing my civic duty.”

Rogers students warm up to school elections

Democratic education happens every year in schools as students run for positions on the Associated Student Body and class offices. Teens campaign and vote for their choice, subconsciously familiarizing themselves with the democratic process within the microcosm of their school community.

Officers learn about campaigning from the inside out as they vie for support from the 1,500-voter pool at their school, as is the case at Rogers High School in northeast Spokane.

For some, civics education in schools through class and school elections is a much-needed exposure to the democratic process. ASB Historian Osvaldo Mojica, 18, wasn’t sure what his voting plan was when asked mid-October. His parents were born in Mexico, and he’s a first-generation voter in U.S. elections.

“I’m gonna be the first one to do it, and I don’t exactly know how to do it yet, but I’ll just educate myself,” Mojica said.

Mojica found running for office in his school to have a more congenial atmosphere than he sees with the divisiveness in actual elections.

“Before I joined ASB, I never really cared about politics, because in my head, it was just two battling adults just fighting for nonsense,” Mojica said. “I guess my point of view on life is just not to take it too seriously.”

The divisiveness of politics makes it feel unapproachable to him, and participating in the pseudo-government at his school gave him an amiable primer in that process, he said.

Giving ‘Super Tuesday’ a new meaning at Moran Prairie

Though years away from casting a vote, Moran Prairie Elementary kids get civics lessons early.

Staff held a mock election for the some-450 kids enrolled there, instilling in them young that their vote matters, but in a way that appeals to their developing minds: superheroes.

The school held a primary with super-candidates from Marvel and DC Comics. Pupils then chose between the two finalists in a general election. In the DC primary, it was a close race between Wonder Woman and Batman. A mere 16 votes sent the Dark Knight to the general election against a Marvel superhero, disappointing some wanting Wonder Woman to ascend to the general.

“It’s kind of fun that we get to vote, but at the same time, it’s kind of frustrating that the person that we wanted didn’t win,” said Wonder Woman voter Emily McEvoy, in fourth grade.

After years pass and teacher Kate Huschke’s fourth-graders grow into voting age, she hopes they’ll remember the sting of Wonder Woman’s narrow loss and cast a vote regardless of disappointing choices.

“Even though it can be an inconvenience at times, it’s still important that you put the effort forward to have a voice and vote,” Huschke said. “So I’m hoping that that sticks with them, because I really tried to send that message.”

Several kids received the message, and independently connected it to the choice adults are making around the country. Some went on to implore their parents to vote.

“Your voice matters, because if you don’t vote for the actual election, then your president that you want might not win,” said fourth-grader Arya Pennington.

Though some Batman voters held a slight air of superiority in their victory, Huschke took it as a chance to teach how to be civil in civics.

“If you don’t get your way, you can’t make a whole deal about it,” said fourth-grader Finley Jacobson. “Especially for the big election — like, you’d honestly be embarrassing yourself in front of the whole country.”

East Valley humanizes amid political discord

There’s no sugarcoating in the mock election at East Valley High School. The school is embracing the contentious nature of this cycle with real candidates and issues on their mock ballot.

Homemade campaign posters for both Kamala Harris and Donald Trump line the walls of the school.

Three of Lori Merkel’s Advanced Placement government classes are behind the election. For weeks, they have researched and planned the project, beginning with taking a political ideology test that assigns them to either team Trump or team Harris. The project culminates in a vote, before which the whole school watches a recorded debate between two students representing each candidate, though not necessarily using their talking points in the debate. Seniors Hadley Forsman and Levi Tanner represented Harris and Trump, respectively.

The two debated each other on chosen issues: the environment, the economy and the Second Amendment, in front of their classmates.

The process instilled a healthy skepticism in the students, teaching them to consider policies’ and proposals’ beyond face value.

“Who’s gonna have to pay for that?” senior Chloey Wells asked, directed at Tanner’s proposal to arm teachers to protect schools.

“I learned a lot, that they specifically try and keep everything vague, like some shady tactics that politicians can use,” said first-time voter Gabe Katon.

Merkel is intentional not to tell her students which way she leans politically. She jokes that two years after they graduate, then they can ask.

“It’s about thinking for yourself, not whatever your parents or teachers think,” Merkel said. “It’s not about me; my job is to educate them.”

The same political discord present outside could have brewed in the political poster-plastered walls of the school, but that wasn’t the case for Merkel’s young scholars.

“Everyone here is really accepting. We have some people who are more right than the average person or more left, but you never see them arguing. You never see them throwing shade at each other,” Wells said.

It’s a stark contrast to the political division that permeates even her own family.

Senior Doug Altermatt donned a classic red “Make America Great Again” hat during his classmates’ debate.

“It’s been pretty good,” he said of wearing his hat and expressing his political beliefs among his peers who may disagree. “I thought some people might dislike me more. They might, but they don’t show it, so it works.”

Watching their family members spar over political affiliation in previous years, kids are committed to not repeat the sins of their families. They see their peers as friends since kindergarten rather than a political party, they said.

When they looked around the classroom, students noticed that all but two of them were sitting next to a peer of the opposite party unintentionally.

“We’re all individuals, and I think we’re all really respectful about the fact that everybody is their own person and has their own opinions, and that’s OK,” said senior Loralai Taylor.

Back at the Community School, Lozzi echoed similar sentiments.

“No matter what happens, we often remember that we are all Americans and we’re all humans, and don’t discount each other because one person thinks that this person would be a better fit for the country,” Lozzi said. “At the end of the day, we’re all just trying to do our best for our families, America, everything.”