HISD hosts Civic Youth Summit to promote student voting

The Family and Community Engagement (FACE) Department of the Houston Independent School District (HISD) hosted the My Ballot My Future Civic Youth Summit at Delmar Fieldhouse on May 14. The event, attended by numerous HISD juniors and seniors, aimed to promote civic responsibility and voting among students.

In an attempt to engage high school students in discussions about their civil rights, FACE designed the event to be both exciting and educational. This initiative was taken with a view to prepare some of these students for their first presidential election this November.

John Meade, Director of Community Partnerships with HISD, emphasized the importance of exposing students to democratic participation. "The decisions that we make today as adults affect everyone’s present and everyone’s future. This provides an opportunity for students to engage with community partners as well as other individuals to learn about civil education, learn about voting, and see how they can take action on their own to make a difference," he said.

The summit offered students an opportunity to interact with various organizations promoting civic engagement such as the Houston Area Urban League, the ACLU of Texas, and Closeup.org. These organizations provided resources and educational materials, even enabling eligible students to register to vote immediately.

In addition, the Harris County Clerk’s Office introduced real voting machines for student trials. Elias Chanzy from Scarborough High School shared his experience working at polling locations: “I think voting is really important because when you vote, it’s to change what you want to happen,” he said.

The main event was emceed by popular 93.7 the Beat DJ Kiotti Brown and featured a concert by local rapper BuddieRoe. A panel discussion was also held involving professionals from Next Gen America, Pure Justice, and the Harris County Clerk’s Office who answered questions regarding elections' impact on taxes, schools, city maintenance and how they reflect voters' core values.

For more information on HISD Family and Community Engagement, visit the FACE webpage.