A presidential election is coming up, and SCH seniors will be voting. Voting awareness is spread in different ways, such as mainstream media, people’s favorite celebrities, and family influences. Usually, these programs take place outside of school,but this year, voting awareness is spread through SCH senior history classes.

SCH history classes usually focus on general topics, covering one subject or theme with a set curriculum for the year. However, with the upcoming elections, teachers are shaking things up by implementing courses that revolve around current events.
In “Twenty First Century American Issues…is talking about the issues under debate in the election,” History Department Chair Sarah McDowell said about her brand new course. “We’ve talked a lot about what it means to have a civil discourse where we’re talking to each other about ideas instead of shouting slogans at each other,” McDowell said.

Unlike most courses that don’t get political, students in this class formulate their own beliefs by engaging in debates about hot topics in this upcoming election.

“Our first unit was about the Second Amendment and gun rights, and the kids had a big argument about whether or not to ban assault rifles, and they had to prepare both sides and kind of look at the issue historically and then from the current debate,” McDowell said about the structure of her class.

McDowell’s students not only further formulate their opinions about their views on the election but are also encouraged to vote.

“Ms. Gross and I will run a voter registration drive to make sure everybody who’s 18 knows they can register to vote,” McDowell said.

Beyond gaining knowledge for the upcoming election and registering students to vote, Ms. Gross’s 12th grade AP Government class is working on civic action projects for the forthcoming election.

“I really value the civic action project because it relates what we’re doing in class to what’s happening now in the government, politics, and in the real world”, senior Alex Topping said. For his project, Michael Goff, an SCH junior, will be working the polls in the Philadelphia area, along with the author of this article, Andrew Blum.

These civic action workshops are not only great for the community but are also a great and fulfilling experience for SCH seniors.

However, teachers aren’t only concerned about registering students to vote. What the teachers will do post-election is still up in the air.

Ms. McDowell said, “We’ve talked about whether or not we should have spaces for people who support both candidates … somebody’s going to be upset because it’s a close race.”

School is meant to be a non-political environment where students can learn with unbiased teaching, but it is also necessary for seniors to vote and further advance their political opinions.

“If we can’t talk to each other…then we’re not really one country, so we’ve got to be able to talk to each other. My big goal this year is to get people talking together about controversial issues,” McDowell said.