On Saturday, October 5th, Friends Select hosted the Student Civic and Community Engagement Summit (SCCE) with the hope of educating and registering young voters, especially the students at FSS, before the final day of registration, October 21st, 2024.
SCCE was from 9 am to 6 pm at FSS. This daylong nonpartisan event involved many different aspects occurring simultaneously. There were multiple workshops throughout the day run by various organizations and individuals, each designed to educate and empower students. There was a live radio broadcast from WURD from 9-12 am, hosted by FSS alumna Tiffany Bacon ‘89. The event’s keynote speaker was Al Schmidt, Secretary of the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, a frequent collaborator with FSS who has visited the school numerous times in the past few years to engage students with voting, sometimes bringing voting machines for mock elections.
According to Steve Greenbaum, Associate Director of Educational Technology, the overall goal of the summit was to educate people about important issues, take the emotions they feel about current issues and turn them into actions, turn their grievances into power, and turn their hope into opportunities. The event was open to discuss any topics of interest in the current political climate, some that Steve specifically flagged were Gun Violence, Reproductive Rights, Climate Justice, and Basic Needs and Securities. “So the idea is to connect those dots, go to where students are, meet them where they are and maybe a lightbulb will go off like ‘oh..I need to use my voice.’ …It is a participatory sport, we all need to participate,” said Steve.
The subject material can be heavy at times, so Steve worked extremely hard to prioritize fun and mental wellness throughout the day. One way of doing this was by adding various smaller events throughout the day, such as yoga and meditation run by Lower School Art teacher Dan Deslaurier in the Dojo, and a ping-pong activity during the lunch break. In the morning, there was a team-building professional who gathered everyone in the theater, gave them drumsticks, and got them to form a rhythm together. “We’re all gonna get on the same rhythm, the same heartbeat to connect, for the day. That’s the idea, to be open to connect with people and work with people that you don’t know,” said Steve.
Steve adds that there are other ways that high school students can remain involved up to and beyond Election Day. Students can bring a voter registration drive to their schools, start a student government club, or volunteer for a community or civic organization like a food share program or community garden. Additionally, they can consider running for office themselves once they are eighteen years old.
