Young Americans Civics and New Voter Engagement: Power to the People – 3 Stories

This paper and presentation discusses 3 successful projects which hopefully encouraged many east Tennessee students to engage in the political process. 1. CE2, or “Community Engagement for Civics Education” – a grant funded 2-year project. Community College students prepared and delivered FREE on-campus public sessions about government. 2. Civics Bowl & Constitution Day for public school students. Sponsored by the US Federal District Court, 10 local high schools fielded teams of students to participate in a high-pressure “lightning round” format of civics questions with the competitions held in actual courtrooms. 3. “Why Do College Students Vote?” is a student initiated project which twice surveyed local students about their civics knowledge and voting.