The Pennsylvania Department of Education has recently honored LM with the Governor’s Civic Engagement Award. This award is a testament to the dedication of the LM Democrats club, who work to educate their peers on the importance of involvement and advocacy. With the help of the club’s Get Out to Vote committee (GOTV) , they have been instrumental in reinforcing the value of voting; a crucial democratic process.
The GOTV committee focuses on raising awareness about upcoming elections and making it easier for students to get involved.Thanks to this group of students, LM was able to demystify the voting process with a variety of initiatives: they organized informational tables, gathered volunteers to assist seniors with registration, and displayed posters.
The Governor’s Civic Engagement Award, presented by the Pennsylvania Department of Education, recognizes and celebrates the initiatives of high school students, across Pennsylvania, who actively seek to enlighten, involve, and inform their school community about participating in elections. This award highlights the significance of spreading awareness and encouraging engagement amongst the youth, who are soon to earn their voting rights.
LM was awarded the gold level distinction, which is given to schools when 85% of eligible students are registered to vote. The GOTV committee and Civic Engagement club, (a club that assists the GOTV committee in the “get out to vote efforts”) in a joint effort, went into Government classes last fall prior to midterms. They registered an impressive 87% of eligible young voters. At a regional recognition event, student ambassadors will be honored with a plaque and certificates from the Pennsylvania Secretary of State Al Schmidt. Aliyah Brownstein ’25 and Noah Barkan ’24 have been recognized as the ambassadors of this award, a reflection of their exemplary commitment to this effort.
Aliyah Browstein ’25, the two year chair of the GOTV committee, said “It was sort of a long process starting in September with voter registration.” As a committee, they had voter registration stands at lunch run by volunteers and committee members. This booth was run through October until the voter registration date, in the end of October. Along with this, they had QR codes plastered around the school to make it easy and accessible for people to register. Brownstein added “The main point of these efforts was to get it out there that voting is not a very difficult thing to do.”
Connor Kleinman ’24, one of the students who runs the Civic Engagement club, spoke on behalf of the club, stating,“We plan to continue to strive for the maximum possible voter registration and turnout.” He also noted that the “LM Civic Engagement Club together with the assistance of a few outside organizations, including the League of Women Voters and the PA Youth Vote, finally got a civic engagement policy statement passed by the board. While we think that there is certainly more that can be done, it was a good step in the right direction.”
Both the club and committee are looking for ways to expand and improve. Last year, LM reached an unprecedented high percentage of registered voters. “I think it would be a pretty attainable goal to reach that again and hopefully with an even higher percentage,” Aliyah Brownstein ‘25 remarked when asked about her goals for this year.
In our increasingly polarized political landscape, the work of these student-led organizations is vital. The LM democrats club believes there is a necessity for the next generation to be informed, open-minded, and capable of engaging in constructive dialogue. This award signifies not only an increase in voters, but also recognizes our quest for knowledge, advocacy, and responsibility. The collective spirit of our student body has been instrumental in reaching this milestone.
