'Kids Voting' introducing children to civic engagement

From: Education News Briefs, November 1, 2006  

The Brownsville Herald

When the Rev. Armand Mathew and Joseph Zavaletta Jr. started with Kids Voting Brownsville, they set out to change the future of civic engagement in the city.

If their early success is any indication, they are well on the way of achieving their goal.

More than 40,000 Brownsville students voted in 2004, representing an 80-percent turnout, and 93 percent of those said because of the program, they would continue to vote as adults.

“What we’re doing is building capacity in our community for more citizenship,” said Zavaletta, director of the University of Texas at Brownsville and Texas Southmost College Center for Civic Engagement. “That’s quite remarkable.”

Now in its third year, the voting project is made possible by a partnership among the UTB-TSC Center for Civic Engagement, the Brownsville Independent School District, Brownsville’s private schools and home schooled children.

Kids Voting Brownsville is the local affiliate of Kids Voting USA, a nonprofit aimed developing an engaged citizenry by involving the nation’s youth in the electoral process.

In Brownsville, that process takes place with students at all levels. The program is tailored to the grade level, so, for example, elementary school students learn the basics of voting, while middle and high school students delve deeper into the issues.

The end result is that students are voting from the time they enter school until they graduate from high school.

Zavaletta said after years of voting, it becomes a habit, and when students are old enough to actually vote in an election, it will be second nature to them.

"Can you imagine what that means?" Zavaletta asked. "By the time these kids graduate, they would have voted two to three times for the president of the United States."

Fernando Perez, social studies coordinator for BISD, said in addition to classroom projects, KIDS Voting Clubs play a big role in growing student participation in the voting process.

Perez said the clubs establish a system in which students are the owners and develop projects around elections.

"We've been doing it pretty much any time there is an election," Perez said. "Hopefully, we'll see a change in our community and eliminate voter apathy."

The Brownsville Herald also partnered with the Center for Civic Engagement to develop an on-line voters' guide to reach a greater number of voters.

The city has also helped. Last year, the City Commission declared the first Thursday before a November election to be Kids' Voting Day.

Zavaletta, however, attributes much of the project's success to Mathew, who is executive Director of Kids Voting Brownsville. Zavaletta said without Mathew's contribution, Kids Voting Brownsville may not have made it.

For his part, Mathew views the voting project as missionary work. Struck by voter apathy in the Rio Grande Valley, he decided to do something about it.

Feedback from students confirmed his suspicions that the city's youth was not learning the importance of voting from parents, since many reported that their parents did not vote in recent elections.

In its initial incarnation, Kids Voting was a pilot project of The Brownsville Herald in 2000.

Its popularity spurred Mathew to build partnerships with UTB-TSC and the schools in Brownsville in 2004.

At 85, Mathew doesn't know how much longer he will be around for the project, but he wants to ensure a successful future for Kids Voting Brownsville.

Currently, the UTB-TSC Center for Civic Engagement funds the program, but they are working on building an endowment of $500,000, which would guarantee its survival.

With Kids Voting elections set to begin Thursday and end Nov. 7, Mathew is hoping for another large turnout.

"Its all been fabulous." he said. "I've just been thrilled to be a part of this."