We believe that public schools have an obligation to confront this challenge, and help young people acquire and learn the skills, knowledge, and attitudes to become competent citizens throughout their lives. Democracy Prep schools do this in 5 major ways:
Civic engagement is a core part of our schools’ mission and culture. We hold weekly town hall meetings to discuss current events and community issues. Students organize yearly Get out the Vote (GOTV) drives (we’ve passed out 40,000 GOTV fliers across two states) and participate in mock elections. We host elected officials and community leaders at all our schools. Students participate in required community and public service.
We prepare our students to become advocates on issues of local concern, and we give them opportunities to use their skills in their communities. Students learn to—and do—meet with elected officials and conduct lobbying visits. They deliver testimony at city and state legislative hearings (they’re the youngest ever to do so in New York and Rhode Island), and learn to write their own testimony effectively.
We organize school and city-wide events with civic themes. We visit State Capitols and attend hearings and committee meetings. In 2009, our staff and students organized New York’s largest Inauguration celebration. We hosted one of Harlem’s largest election watching-parties, and our first-ever school dance was an Inaugural Ball.
Our schools have school-wide speech and debate programs. The public hallmark of our civic engagement program is our championship speech and debate team. Beginning in 7th grade, all DPPS students compete in forensics activities through the New York Urban Debate League and the Middle School Public Debate Program. Students have placed at national competitions across the country (including the Middle School National Championship in Claremont, CA). All of our high school students take a speech and debate course as part of their core academic program.
All our families register to vote. We believe a core component of civic participation happens at the ballot box. We ask all our families to register if they are able, and actively disseminate registration forms to our incoming families.