PHILADELPHIA (KYW Newsradio) — The annual Philly Rises tour to drum up civic engagement among high school students kicked off Monday at Carver High School of Engineering and Science in North Philadelphia.
The tour teaches students about civic participation and registers 18-year-olds to vote.
“Public school, charter school, Catholic schools, private schools, we recruit poll workers and we remind students about how critical it is for them to vote,” said Philadelphia City Commission Chair Omar Sabir. The City Commission operates the tour, along with organizations like the Urban League of Greater Philadelphia, the NAACP, and the Committee of Seventy, Sabir said. The kickoff took place on the eve of National Voter Registration Day on Tuesday.
“This is one of the most important times for all of us to be voting,” Carver High history teacher Janel Moore-Almond told seniors before Monday’s news conference. “We can get you registered to vote right now.”
Senior Kimberly Zeng turned 18 on Monday and joined some of her classmates in registering at school. She said voting can create change, as opposed to scrolling questionable information online.
“When it’s on social media, it’s not confirmed. Nothing is really just, like, set to be true. So when you actually vote, you kind of make — you change things,” Zeng told KYW Newsradio.
“I plan to vote because I’ve seen a lot of things going on in the world that I don’t agree with,” said Carver senior Nudia Reyes Vasquez, 17. “Most of us are still at that age where we can’t vote yet, but we know what’s going on in the world and we want to make a difference.”
School District Superintendent Tony Watlington said Philly Rises is an effort to create active citizens.
“We don’t teach our kids what to think, but we certainly have a responsibility to teach them how to think. And how to learn about the political process and how to make their voices heard,” Watlington said.
Sabir said 17-year-olds can also sign up to be poll workers and earn up to $295. He reminded students that the deadline to register for the Nov. 4 election is Oct. 20.