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Kids Voting in Missouri

Kids Voting Missouri is an affiliate of Kids Voting USA® which is a national non-profit, nonpartisan program. In Kids Voting students in grades K-12 go to Kids Voting polls with their parents or other adults on or near Election Day and cast Kids Voting ballots for the same candidates and issues as adult voters.

 

VoterCard06In the weeks leading up to the election, students in Kids Voting school districts study grade-specific lessons on democracy and the electoral process and also learn to "register" to vote, giving all students an opportunity to benefit from the program.

 


Under a license granted by Kids Voting USA®, the Citizenship Education ClearingHouse or “CECH” serves as the central administrative agency for Kids Voting Missouri. Kids Voting Missouri is one of CECH's programs and is admistered by the College of Education at the University of Missouri-St. Louis.
(See www.umsl.edu for more information.)
 

Kansas City was once part of Kids Voting Missouri. However, in 2004, the Kansas City area left to start their own affiliate now called Kids Voting of Greater Kansas City.  To inquire about participation in the Kansas City area, please contact Rachel Willis, Executive Director of Kids Voting USA--rwillis@kidsvotingusa.org or (785) 271-6350.

 

Election 2010...For 2010, twenty St. Louis Area School Districts have pledged to participate in Kids Voting Missouri. This means that more than 180,000 St. Louis area K-12th grade students will have an opportunity to vote for the same candidates and issues as the adult voters.  Kids Voting Missouri will experiment with a new on-line voter program called "Doubleclick Democracy" and will also try out "early voting."

Student voters will join adult voters in "deciding" who they want to be their next United States Senator.  Will it be Missouri Secretary of State Robin Carnahan or U.S. Congressman, Roy Blunt (R-7th District)?  Check back on November 2nd after to 7:00 p.m. to find out the winner!  (The main difference of course is the Kids Voting results don't really count--except for practicing the habit of voting!!!)

Kids Voting Missouri and Kids Voting of Greater Kansas City, together, comprise more than 35% of the entire K-12 public school enrollment in Missouri.  This means that more than 1/3 of all Missouri public school students have an opportunity to learn about democracy and voting.

For many students, this will be their 6th or 7th time to vote in a Kids Voting Missouri election. Kids Voting Missouri began in 1996 when the Ritenour School District piloted the program.

CECH-Citizenship Education Clearing House


A pioneer in civic education, CECH has been teaching students the “political ropes” since the 1960s. Originally an independent non-profit corporation, CECH became part of the University of Missouri-St. Louis College of Education in 1993.

Historically, CECH’s programs have targeted middle and high schools and have sought to give students an authentic, real-life experience in the political process, with the expectation that “learning the system” will encourage them to participate in politics when they become adults.  CECH, a stand alone non-profit organization, came to the University of Missouri-St. Louis College of Education in 1993.

 

MY LOGO...CECH's other school-based program is MY LOGO (Missouri Youth Engaged in Local Government) and formerly known as Local Government CECH-UP.  Developed in cooperation with the St. Louis City Manager's Association (SLACMA) and Urban Extension at UMSL, this upper elementary/secondary program teachers students about local government.  Students in MY LOGO identify and research local government problems and then come up with ideas to "fix" those problems. With funding support from University of Missouri Extension, CECH has expanded the local government program to include students from across Missouri. (For information about participating, contact Sandy at sdiamond@umsl.edu or go to www.cech-up.org)

CECH’s Executive Director & Staff 

Dr. Wolfgang Althof, the Teresa M. Fischer Professor of Citizenship Education at the University of Missouri-St. Louis, is Executive Director of CECH and is also co-founder of the University of Missouri-St. Louis’ new Center for Character and Citizenship (www.characterandcitizenship.org/)

Prior to joining UMSL, Dr. Althof was at the Department of Education, University of Fribourg, Switzerland (1984-2004). For the last 15 years, his focus has been on moral/character development and citizenship education in school-wide programs and on their contribution to school and staff development. Several of these schools have won awards for outstanding pedagogical initiatives, including the Pestalozzi Award for Child-Friendly Environments, donated by UNICEF Switzerland and other national youth organizations.

Sandra I. Diamond (M.Ed., Secondary Social Studies, UM-St. Louis) director of Kids Voting Missouri is also the current MY LOGO Project Director. Diamond joined Kids Voting in 1999. She is the former Newspapers in Education (NIE) Coordinator for the St. Louis Post-Dispatch [1978-1991] and also taught Civics in the HazelwoodSchool District for nine years. In 2006, Diamond won awards from the Missouri Bar (Civic Virtue Award) and Kids Voting USA’s (Program Excellence Award).

Note: While Sandy Diamond (Kids Voting Missouri & MY LOGO) has principal day-to-day responsibilities for program implementation, Dr. Wolfgang Althof, CECH’s Executive Director and Teresa M. Fischer Endowed Professor of Citizenship Education, provides a key leadership role in providing general oversight over program design, implementation, and evaluation.

Center for Character and Citizenship 

In 2006, the University of Missouri-St. Louis and College of Education launched a new center aimed at inspiring more research and dialogue in Character and Citizenship education. Named the Center for Character and Citizenship, the CCC is an organizational framework and collaborative venue for scholars and educators interested in character education for character development and democratic citizenship.

Scholars in the Center conduct research and examine trends and practices in character and citizenship education. The ultimate goal is to influence and address ethical behavior and civic engagement by K-12 students. In addition to the Center's focus on research, it will also offer professional development, leadership training and consulting services to educators.  

The Center's co-directors are Dr. Wolfgang Althof, the Teresa M. Fischer Endowed Professor of Citizenship Education at UMSL and Executive Director of CECH and Dr. Marvin Berkowitz, the Sanford N. McDonnell Endowed Professor of Character Education at UMSL. 

This fall, the Center for Character and Citizenship will celebrate its 5th year Anniversary. For more information see www.characterandcitizenship.org/index.htm

 

 
 
UM-St. Louis College of EducationUniversity of Missouri - St. LouisCollege of Education
University of Missouri - St. Louis
One University Blvd.
St. Louis, MO 63121 USA

Kids Voting Missouri is a national, non-partisan program administered by the
College of Education at the University of Missouri-St. Louis