kidsvotingmissouri.org

Kids Voting Missouri

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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.

In the weeks leading up to the election, students in participating 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 Clearing House or “CECH” serves as the administrative agency for Kids Voting Missouri. Kids Voting Missouri is admistered by the College of Education at the University of Missouri-St. Louis. (See www.umsl.edu for more information.)

Signing Up in the St. Louis Area...To join Kids Voting Missouri in the Eastern Region of Missouri, contact Sandy Diamond at sdiamond@umsl.edu Be sure to include your school district and email address in your email.

Other Areas...To inquire about participating in other parts of Missouri or other states, please contact Rachel Willis, Executive Director of Kids Voting USA--rwillis@kidsvotingusa.org or (785) 271-6350.

Presidential Election 2012...For 2012, twenty one St. Louis Area School Districts + Confluence Academy, Al Salam Day School, and Rohan Woods have pledged to participate in Kids Voting Missouri. This means that about 200,000 St. Louis area K-12th grade students will have an opportunity to vote for the same candidates and issues as the adult voters.

DoubleClick Democracy...Kids Voting Missouri will use Kids Voting USA's on-line voter system called "Doubleclick Democracy" and will give districts the opportunity to try out "early voting."

Candidates & Issues...Student voters will join adult voters in "deciding" their next President, Governor, United States Senator, and other elected officials. Will Kids Voting Missouri students relect President Obama or will the Republican nominee become the 45th President of the United States? Will current Missouri Governor, Jay Nixon be elected to a 2nd term or will he be defeated by his Republican challenger? Will the students decide to increase the Tobacco Tax from 17 cents per pack to 90 cents per pack?

Election Results...Check back on Tuesday, November 6th, 2012 after to 7:00 p.m. to find out the winners! (Of course, the main difference is the Kids Voting results don't really count--except for practicing the habit of voting!!!)

Kids Voting Missouri comprises almost 30% of the entire K-12 public school enrollment in Missouri. This means that about 1/3 of all Missouri public school students have an opportunity to learn about democracy and voting.

For many students, this will be the 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...In addition to Kids Voting Missouri, CECH's other school-based program is MY LOGO--Missouri Youth Engaged in Local Government. MY LOGO was 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 in MY LOGO, contact Sandy Diamond, Program Director 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’ Center for Character and Citizenship (www.characterandcitizenship.org/)

As Executive Director of CECH, Dr. Althof provides leadership and oversight for the two CECH programs--Kids Voting Missouri and MY LOGO-Missouri Youth Engaged in Local Government.

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 Hazelwood School District for nine years. In 2010, Diamond was recognized by the St. Louis Bar Foundation when she received one of their "Sprirt of Justice" awards. This followed recognitions received in 2006 when 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. Althof, provides significant direction and 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. In 2010 the Center celebrated its 5th year Anniversary.

For more information see www.characterandcitizenship.org/index.htm