Jewish students across U.S. encouraged to create short videos highlighting the importance of voting.
(Courtesy of Teach Coalition) Teach Coalition has launched a nationwide competition for 11th and 12th grade Jewish day school students to create and submit a short video emphasizing the importance of voting.
“Young adults are much less engaged in our democracy than other age groups. Encouraging them to think creatively about the meaning and importance of voting will increase their level of engagement,” said Dan Mitzner, Teach Coalition’s director of state political affairs. “We look forward to seeing firsthand the innovation and talent of our day school students and we’re also excited to partner with teachers to further reinforce a critical message: Our democracy depends on the participation of the entire citizenry, including its youngest adults.”
Part of an ongoing Teach Coalition campaign to increase voter turnout in the day school community, the competition aims to energize high school students about voting while encouraging them to “early register” at 17 years old in many states and at 16 in New York and Florida.
In addition to spearheading the competition, Teach Coalition has developed resources for teachers to emphasize voting registration, including a one-sheet with tips and a sample lesson plan for a 40-minute class on representative government.
Students at participating Jewish day schools will submit 30- to 60-second videos designed to promote and encourage voters in their age demographic. The competition’s first-place winner will receive $1,000 for their school and a $1,000 personal prize; the second-place winner will receive $500 for their school and a $500 personal prize; and the third-place winner will receive $250 for their school and a $250 personal prize.
Submissions are due by February 23. All rules and submission instructions are available at www.teachcoalition.org/contest.
Winners will be announced during a live-video-stream celebration at participating schools on February 27.
Teach Coalition is a project of the Orthodox Union that champions equitable government funding for nonpublic schools.
