- Seneca Valley School District
- Overview
Civic duty
Acting Secretary of State Robert Torres made a special visit to Seneca Valley Senior High School on May 8 to recognize the impressive civic awareness efforts of the students and staff.
Last month, the Seneca Valley Senior High School hosted “SV Votes Art Gala & Film Festival,” a day-long event that encouraged more than 450 eligible high school students to register to vote. Secretary Torres announced that the success of the event earned them the Gold Level Award as part of The Governor’s Civic Engagement Award Program. Additionally, he noted that Seneca Valley registered the most students of any high school from all those participating across the state.
“The Governor’s Civic Engagement Award recognizes the efforts of the next generation of leaders to educate their fellow students about their right to vote and engage them in the voting process as soon as they are eligible,” Torres said. “It is heartening to see young people so eager to participate in our democracy.”
The award is a cooperative effort by the Departments of Education and State, in collaboration with Inspire U.S., a nonprofit, nonpartisan organization that works to transform young leaders’ inspiration into action. The program offers resources and guidance for student leaders as they educate their peers regarding the electoral process and the importance of civic engagement.
Qualification for the award is measured by the percentage of voter registrations among a school’s eligible student population. Students may register to vote if they are 18 years of age or will turn 18 on or before the date of the next primary, special, municipal, or general election.
Schools that attain 85-percent voter registration among their eligible student population will qualify for the Gold Level award, while those that register 65 percent will be honored with the Silver Level award. Seneca Valley High School achieved 93-percent registration of eligible students.
“As a district, we are honored to receive this award,” said Seneca Valley Superintendent of Schools Dr. Tracy Vitale. “I am most proud of our social studies teacher, Ms. Rebekah Grinnen, who spearheaded the effort to not only encourage 18-year-olds to register to vote, but who also developed an interdisciplinary program with teachers in other subject areas to demonstrate to our students the importance of democracy and their civic duty to vote.”
The Seneca Valley Gala was led by senior high school teachers Ms. Grinnen and Heather Perella.