South Pasadena High School Seniors Hold Student Voter Registration Drive

Earlier this month, a group of seniors, led by social science teacher Maryann Nielsen, formed a Student Voter Registration Committee and joined an organization called The Civics Center to participate in a national student voter registration drive. The drive was held during lunch on the SPHS Tiger Patio from October 11-15, 2021.

Driven by statistics that show young people ages 18-24 have the lowest voter turnout rate of any age group, the committee sought to empower young people to vote in elections by signing up as pre-registered (ages 16-17) or registered (age 18).

The Civics Center provided online training and educational materials titled “Democracy in a Box,” which included pre-registration forms, stickers, buttons, candy and a $50 gift card to use on supplies for the drive. The student committee used the additional funds to buy more candy, balloons and streamers to attract additional attention to their efforts.

The Student Voter Registration committee included: Miranda Aguire, Ava Dunville, Franny Knight, Noah Kuhn, Sadie Metcalfe, Devin Pearson, Zoe Schlaak, Elise Walcott, and Lilian Zhu. They plan to continue offering drives every fall on campus and hope to get more students involved in the planning next time.

South Pasadena High School, 1401 Fremont Ave., South Pasadena, (626) 441-5820 or visit www.sphstigers.org.

For more information, contact: South Pasadena Unified School District, Office of the Superintendent, scarroll@spusd.net.