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In Philadelphia, the biggest city in what many are calling the swingiest swing state in the country, teachers and students are steeped in election talk.
They know the outcome of one of the most consequential presidential elections in their lifetime may come down to the votes they and their loved ones cast this week.
Across the city, students are engaging in mock elections, Socratic seminars, open discussions, arts and crafts projects, and podcasts to explore how the political process works and where they fit in.
Some are first-time voters this year, like Lecareous “LJ” Niles, a student at John Bartram High school. Niles marched from LOVE Park to City Hall with 500 of their peers from 17 district schools in a youth voting event in October.
“We’re young, but we do care about what’s going on. We do care about who’s in office. We do care about who’s controlling our everyday lives,” Niles said.
Others are too young to vote this year but are urging their peers who can to show up and support the causes they care about.
“I hope they vote. I hope they make an informed decision, and I hope they choose the best leaders to lead our country,” said Masterman student Nathaniel Kassahun, also present at the October march.
Here’s a look inside three classrooms that Chalkbeat visited this election season.
Students learn about voting laws, participatory democracy at Academy at Palumbo in South Philly
In South Philly, Charlie McGeehan’s honors social studies classes at the Academy at Palumbo have been dissecting the country’s voting laws and what it means to participate in a democracy. Formatted as a Socratic seminar akin to what college students might experience, McGeehan’s classes encourage polite and respectful debate with an emphasis on backing up one’s position with research and evidence.
Palumbo is a selective admissions school that draws students from neighborhoods across the city. McGeehan said of the 67 eligible students in his classes, he’s gotten about half to register to vote this year.
On a recent Tuesday morning, students challenged each other on whether voting is a right or a privilege — or something altogether different. They explored their views about voting restrictions: Should people who are incarcerated be allowed to vote? What about people here on work visas or who have temporary immigration statuses?
They vigorously debated whether the voting age should be lowered to allow high school juniors who work part time and pay taxes to be able to have a say in how those taxes are used.
In one class period, their discussions delved into the criminal justice system’s flaws, the looming impact of a proposed basketball arena in the city’s Chinatown neighborhood, and whether the nation should consider a voting age ceiling in addition to the current age limits.
The discussion method “just seems like the most interesting way to get kids to actually care about voting in elections,” McGeehan said. “Fundamentally, I feel most successful when I can make kids curious about something.”
McGeehan said he works hard to create opportunities for students to participate even if they’re less confident with public speaking. He said in his four years teaching at Palumbo, he’s learned that the “voting is important” message tends to fall flat, “unless you actually have them learn about it and come to that message on their own.”
“If we want them to feel like they have a voice per se, then I have to create structures in the classroom where they have a voice and a say,” he said. “If I’m not doing that, the lesson is not going to sink in.”
How voters decide which political party to join at Bodine High School in Northern Liberties
In one of Alex de Arana’s social studies classes at William H. Bodine High School in Philadelphia’s Northern Liberties, students explored political ideologies and how Americans sort themselves into political parties based on their most closely held beliefs.
De Arana’s goal wasn’t for each student to leave with a firm understanding of where they fit into the picture. Rather, it was to help them grasp how people are a tangle of different perspectives shaped by the environment they grew up in and the news they consume.
Facing a political arena that can quickly turn toxic, de Arana emphasized civility: “Please understand that when you are talking about politics with your friends, with your family members … someone’s priorities may be different from you, and that’s okay, and it’s important to try to come to an understanding of how you arrived here.”
De Arana expected his students to reflect on their political and social beliefs and consider how they arrived at them.
“I want you to try to be aware of why you think the way you do,” de Arana told the students. “The more you understand that, hopefully, the more you understand where people who disagree with you are coming from.”
De Arana and colleague Kate Reber (who teaches history and English at Bodine) run an online chat room where they watch the presidential and vice presidential debates and live-blog them with their students. Students are expected to run fact checks and research the candidates’ positions in real time, and consider what they think about them.
Reber said in an email that for the presidential debate, 65 of their students contributed over 1,000 posts and comments.
Communications class debates abortion, tax cuts at Martin Luther King High in East Germantown
The juniors and seniors in Stephen Flemming’s Communications 101 class at Martin Luther King High School in East Germantown are not afraid to speak their minds.
In a complex and passionate discussion one Friday morning, students expressed their anger at proposed policies aimed at controlling women’s medical decisions and attempts to limit access to birth control and abortion care.
They railed against systems of white supremacy that they say are widening gaps between rich and poor families in an effort to give tax cuts to the wealthiest Americans.
They stressed the importance of the U.S. Department of Education and said Republicans’ attempts to eradicate it would harm students like them.
The mostly Black student body also spoke about their experiences being Black in Philly. Their thoughts about politics and leadership intertwined with their feelings about their place in the city: White neighborhoods they are scared to walk through alone, and routine traffic stops they worry may end in violence.
Such comments aren’t just pegged to the election. These topics come up frequently in Flemming’s class, he said. His philosophy is to give students a safe and welcoming space to engage with these ideas, some of which other teachers may bristle at or steer them away from, he said.
“There’s a core group of people who don’t mind talking unapologetically, and there are some that listen more than they talk,” Flemming said.
The students also host their own podcast called Behind The Eyes of Our Youth where they dig into topics like social justice, toxic relationships, school phone bans, Black military service, women’s rights, and more.
The most recent episodes featured interviews with their student government candidates. The hosts questioned those running about their thoughts on school uniform policies and how they intend to improve life at MLK High.
Flemming largely shapes his curriculum through a communications lens. This election year, they’re discussing political rhetoric, messaging, speechwriting, and media criticism, in addition to pressing issues and policies.
The class is an elective, dual enrollment class with Harrisburg University, meaning students can graduate with some college credits. It’s a self-selecting group of high-achieving students from all backgrounds as well as some who simply need the class to graduate, Flemming said. And it’s a diverse group: There are athletes, cheerleaders, code writers, anime fans, and people of faith, he said.
Flemming’s teaching philosophy is to be genuinely interested in listening to what students have to say. “My voice does not matter as much as theirs in this space,” he said. “I’m an adult. I can vote, I have a platform outside of the classroom to express my opinions and views there.”
His advice to other teachers looking to engage their students in tough social and political questions?
“Don’t be scared,” he said. “I know it can be intimidating. You might get pushback. I say fight back. It’s all about the student.”
And above all, “step away from the mic.”
This article is a part of Every Voice, Every Vote, a collaborative project managed by The Lenfest Institute for Journalism. Lead support for Every Voice, Every Vote in 2024 and 2025 is provided by the William Penn Foundation with additional funding from The Lenfest Institute for Journalism, Comcast NBC Universal, The John S. and James L. Knight Foundation, Henry L. Kimelman Family Foundation, Judy and Peter Leone, Arctos Foundation, Wyncote Foundation, 25th Century Foundation, and Dolfinger-McMahon Foundation. To learn more about the project and view a full list of supporters, visit www.everyvoice-everyvote.org. Editorial content is created independently of the project’s donors.
Carly Sitrin is the bureau chief for Chalkbeat Philadelphia. Contact Carly at csitrin@chalkbeat.org.
