November 13, 2023 -
April 16, 2024
North Carolina Governor's Page Service Project (25 hours)
Local Service, Global Impact
SKILLS DEVELOPED
Collaboration, Communication, Problem solving, Civic literacy and citizenship, Leadership
SUMMARY
Reflection
Through working with Kids Voting Durham and taking the initiative to interview candidates for the 2024 elections, I learned the valuable lesson that students under the age of 18 can have an enormous impact on elections despite the fact that our votes aren't cast. Just like the catch phrase that I created earlier this summer, we might have zero votes, but we have thousands of voices. After watching our interviews, I hope that other students will realize the potential they can have as educated voters and informed youth.
Project Impact
My 5 interviews with school board candidates along with the election guide are distributed to up to 10,000 students in 40+ schools around the Durham School District.
PROJECTS TASKS
Page Week
10.00 hours volunteering | Connectedness
I participated in the Governor's Page Program during the week of November 13rd to 16th. Throughout the week, I created a proposal for reducing minimum distance of residents to landfills, and I developed an extensive professional network in state government through discussion and job shadowing.
Project Planning
4.00 hours leading an initiative | Curiosity
To plan for my interviews, I brainstormed questions with Carolyn Kreuger, the program coordinator for Kids Voting Durham. We decided upon 4 main questions, including 1 less serious question to ask every candidate. We set up the times for all candidates to meet within a 1 week period of time, and send calendar invites for every person. We created a script for each meeting, including information about who would say what, when to turn on our cameras, and how to ask for permission to record.
Do the Project
8.00 hours leading an initiative | Connectedness
I interviewed all 5 Durham School board candidates asking them questions including "What's one thing you wish people knew about the school board?" and "What issues influenced you to run for school board?" After recording the videos, we edited them into the 2024 Kids Voting Durham Election Guide. The guide is distributed to 40+ schools around the district along with family members and adults. Attached for my image, I include the opening page for our election guide which was published before early voting began.
Project Outcomes & Reflection
2.00 hours doing outreach | Connectedness
My project finally came to an end this week when we reached back out to every candidate thanking them for their participation in this long project, and we sent them a copy of the school board flyer and booklet via the mail. Looking back, my service project taught me a lot about mutual respect and the election process. Despite the fact that each person wanted this role a lot, they weren't putting their lives in the line to win. Every person was extremely well spoken and highly educated, so they simply relayed their truth during the interview. This spoke to me a lot as I'm now going into the Student Body President elections at my school. Overall, this project taught me how to publish interviews, reach out to candidates, and connect with the greater Durham community. I sadly cannot disclose any photos from throughout the interview process, so I included an image before my first one.
Climate & Wildlife
Rights/Peace
Health
