Election day was Nov. 4, and Park had its general election that included the candidates for school board on the ballot. Eight candidates ran for three seats, with the top three candidates winning the race. This election was also the first for a handful of seniors at Park to cast their ballots.
Senior Elliott Netoff said people and the conditions that surround them have an effect on their voting, and they try to look at things from different perspectives to make sure they aren’t voting with a heavy amount of bias.
“(Environment) does impact my voting,” Netoff said. I think everything impacts everything else. My specific context impacts my voting. I look at multiple perspectives and then try to understand things from multiple different angles to make sure I’m not voting with super amounts of bias, even if I am voting for a specific topic.”
Social studies teacher Carley Kregness said she knows her beliefs well enough not to be easily shaken by her surroundings, but that does not mean her opinions can’t change. According to her, being a teacher influences how she votes because she feels strongly about education, youth and programs that support people in need.
“I have real, strong beliefs,” Kregness said. “As a social studies-minded person, I know what I want and don’t want and like and don’t like, but I’m sure that my environment continues to impact that. My job as a teacher impacts the way I vote because I care about what happens to young people and to schools, funding and programs for unhoused people. When I have students that don’t have enough food to eat, all those things influence the way I vote.”
Senior Eleanor Cruz said she considers how candidates plan to include people of different backgrounds. According to Cruz, what changes they want to make and how they will take action is something she takes into account.
“I take into consideration how (the school board) plans to accommodate different races and different class divides, as well as the administrative changes to the education system as a whole and how they plan to adapt to that with this administration,” Cruz said.
Netoff said having to be eighteen for the voting age minimum is nonsensical for the school board election, and they believe the voting age should be lowered. According to Netoff, students should be allowed to have a say in who’s representing their district.
“(The voting age minimum being eighteen) doesn’t make sense for school board elections because there are people who are eighteen who are still in high school, but once most people are eighteen, (voting for the school board is) not relevant to them anymore,” Netoff said. “I understand parents want a voice. Students should also get a voice and know who’s representing them in their own district.”
Kregness said Park has had voter registration drives to bring awareness to younger audiences and encourage them to vote in elections when they are of age. According to her, informing students on subjects that they concern themselves with is important so students aren’t turned away from the idea of voting.
“For a lot of years, we’ve had voter registration drives. We probably will again next year,” Kregness said. “We’ve done them about every two years, and that’s one way to encourage people to vote, certainly in teaching Civics and government classes. There’s a lot of work done, but the voter registration drive was broader across the whole senior class, because they’re the only ones where people might be eighteen. Helping students understand the issues they care about is a way of encouraging them to vote, because I think the biggest disincentive to voting is feeling like you don’t know what’s happening, and you don’t care.”
Cruz said she wasn’t as informed in this election as she hopes to be in the future. According to her, she finds participating in local elections crucial to making oneself heard in society.
“It’s my first time voting, so I was less (involved in local politics) than I would have liked,” Cruz said. “I had registered to vote the day that I voted because I didn’t realize it was coming up. In the future, I do hope to do more research because local elections are the way to get your voice heard the most.”
According to Kregness, the social studies department operates without formal written rules regarding politics, but instead of communicating their biases, they try to encourage critical thinking and provide tools so students can research themselves.
“(Censorship restrictions) are not set in stone, but as a social studies department, we try never to tell people what we think or what the right answer is,” Kregness said. “When people ask who they should vote for or for election advice, I always try to have them research the issues and the different candidates’ positions. Our goal is to present factual information and understanding as a department and try to get into some of the issues in more depth.”
