Vote 18: Road Trip USA
We're so proud to announce the success of Vote 18: Road Trip USA The goal of our tour, to introduce our program to community leaders, educators and potential partners at the local level, was by far a greater success than we anticipated.
With only one paid staff member supported by the unwavering dedication, grace and vital assistance of our volunteers and chapter leaders around the country, we were able to present our program to about 5,175 students through 112 sessions in 54 schools in 22 cities across 14 states . We'd like to send a special shout out to the League of Women Voters for their vital help in making the success of our tour and follow up even possible.
Don't miss our press coverage! and blog from the tour!
In the days leading up to the election we emailed teachers and students our New Voter Toolkit, which highlighted localized information so students knew where to vote, what time the polls were open and who to call in their area if they ran into trouble. (The League's voter site http://www.vote411.org/ proved an indispensable tool.)
Now, the work to build on our momentum begins.
Vote 18's principle focus is to engage young Americans to vote in each and every election, especially local elections such as City Councils and State Legislators. Our program will continue to teach young people to power of their vote as their voice in their community, and with this historic election behind us, we will adjust our lesson plan to discuss the impact and roles of those offices coming up for a vote.
Vote 18 Moving forward we will be working to achieve our four programmatic and long-term goals:
- 1. Encourage today's youth to become tomorrow's voters and community leaders.
- 2. Empower first-time voters by education and community building.
- 3. Increase political awareness of young people.
- 4. Promote dialogue among all citizens on issues of national and local importance.
To meet these challenges we are redoubling our focus on fundraising and tapping volunteers to support our next stage of development.
Some of our initial goals moving forward are:
- Formalizing partnerships with local organizations to engage students with volunteer and community service opportinuties at the point of contact.
- Develop and staff our new voter follow up, analysis as well as student engagement.
- Securing a consistent funding stream that will allow us to focus most of our resources on program development and growth.
- Upgrading Vote18.org with better Web 2.0 tools, voter resources and a more robust community exchange.
With your help we can meet these goals and will do so head on.
This historic election paves the way for us to connect with and inspire students about the power and impact of their vote and their involvement in the community.
Initial research shows that 3.4 million more young people turned out for this election than in 2004. In total, 23 million people under the age of 30 made up 18% of the total electorate (up from 17% in 2004), and represented "at least" 60% of the overall increase in voter turnout. (http://www.civicyouth.org/)
These new voters can be the beginning of a new generation of engaged, informed young Americans, but only if we continue to capitalize on their excitement and interest.
Long term involvement can rightfully stem from one cause or one candidate, but it cannot sustain itself on those initial measures alone.
That's where our youth civics program and community partnerships can play a crucial role, school by school, student by student. We welcome to your insights and involvement to help us continue to connect with more young people, engage and inspire them, and turn them into life-long voters and active citizens in our democracy.
Please help us continue our work by making a generous contribution online at https://www.Vote18.org/donate.php
Thank you for being a part of our initial success.
The stars on the map below represent each of the cities that were part of Road Trip: USA! Click here to find a chapter leader near you to get involved or Contact us to help bring our effective youth civics program to your school.
| California | New York | ||||||||
| L.A. | Aug 18-19 | Albany | Sep 15 | ||||||
| Buffalo | Sep 16-17 | ||||||||
| Pleasantville | Sep 19 | ||||||||
| Arizona | PACE University | Sep 23 | |||||||
| Phoenix | Aug 20-22 | ||||||||
| Tucson | Aug 25-26 | Ohio | |||||||
| Flagstaff | Aug 28-27 | Cleveland | Sep 24 | ||||||
| Toledo | Sep 25 | ||||||||
| New Mexico | Columbus | Sep 26 | |||||||
| Albuquerque | Sep 8 | ||||||||
| Florida | |||||||||
| Texas | Orlando | Sep 29-30 | |||||||
| El Paso | Sep 10-11 | ||||||||
| Austin | Sep 12-15 | District of Columbia | |||||||
| Washington | Oct 1-3 | ||||||||
| Colorado | |||||||||
| Denver | Sep 15-16 | Louisiana | |||||||
| New Orleans | Oct 6-7 | ||||||||
| Utah | |||||||||
| Salt Lake | Sep 18-19 | Vermont | |||||||
| Burlington | Oct 14-15 | ||||||||
| Alabama | |||||||||
| Mobile | Oct 16-17 | ||||||||
| Minnesota | |||||||||
| Minneapolis | Oct 21-23 | ||||||||
