The 2024 election is less than a week away!

This year, LWHS is once again a polling place for local residents. Students, faculty, and staff will be poll volunteers on campus that day, and we are excited to support our neighbors as they exercise their right to vote.

And there's so much more to engaged citizenship than voting! All year long, LWHS has been thinking deeply about civic engagement, open dialogue, and civil discourse in general: we know how important those skills are for healthy communities. We also know that becoming and being an active citizen is as diverse as our school community: engagement looks different for different people, and can take a variety of forms. That’s why we are providing multiple opportunities to students and facstaff to practice their citizenship muscles and engage in meaningful dialogue, including: 

• Elections & Political Parties PPP Class: In this class, history teacher Mike Clayton helps students explore the history of elections and political parties. Topics include: how elections & political parties operate; historical presidential elections; understanding current political issues; and voter guides. As a Public Purpose Program class, students are also tasked with working at the LWHS polling site on election day and volunteering for a campaign or issue that resonates with them. 
• Leaders in Civil Discourse Conference: Led by Dean of Equity and Inclusion Dee Johnson and Director of Student Inclusion Matthew Oakland, this conference on November 7 and 8 will train students in facilitation, conflict navigation, and bridging work to bring people of different viewpoints together in conversation.  
• Dee and Matthew are also holding lunchtime Community Dialogue Circles in October, November and December, providing opportunities for open dialogue among Lick community members around important and complex topics. The Community Dialogue Circles are student-focused and student-driven, with meetings centered around a set theme and topics brainstormed by student participants. 
• Lunch and Learn Sessions! Two LWHS teachers are hosting L&Ls for the community: Mr. Clayton will host the first one on November 1 on the Electoral Process, with Mr. Avery Pickford hosting a November 13 session on Media Information Literacy.

We also have programming specifically for faculty and staff, to help adults on campus (1) feel prepared to help students navigate the election cycle and other challenging topics and (2)  “walk the talk” of engaging in important, sometimes difficult conversations. For facstaff:

• We have set aside time at facstaff meetings to talk about LWHS’ approach to the election and discourse in general. At the beginning of the year, teachers received an Election Guide for Educators, which includes Guiding Principles and topic suggestions for issues like media literacy and the election process. At a subsequent meeting, Dean of Teaching & Learning Kate Wiley offered teachers a Constructive Dialogue folder, containing tools for facilitating dialogue, norms for potentially polarizing topics, and curricular resources. 
• The Appetizer: A series of Lunchtime Conversations for facstaff, hosted by Dee Johnson and Dean of Faculty Alegria Barclay, to develop our capacity to engage in difficult conversations. The Appetizer will take place monthly all year long.

Civil discourse and engaged citizenship are more important than ever in our world today. LWHS will continue to prioritize learning and opportunities that elevate all of the skills necessary for a healthy democracy.