The caucus countdown is on and Iowa’s first-in-the-nation presidential pulse-takers made the impact you would expect at DMPS, the state’s largest incubator for citizenship.
For example, on Monday night, 54 school district buildings (53 schools plus the Operations Center) will host a total of 68 Democratic caucuses and 75 Republican caucuses.
Among those old enough to participate in the Iowa caucuses this year are 3,172 DMPS students. So long as students will be 18 years old by November 3 – Election Day – and meet the requirements to be an eligible voter they can take part and be counted at the caucuses.
Students of all ages took part in the Iowa Youth Straw Poll this week, an activity coordinated through the Iowa Secretary of State’s office. Long lines of voters were reported at participating schools, perhaps a harbinger of what’s in store not only next Monday night across the state but also next November across the nation on Election Day.
The role of the caucuses as a civics lesson for students has earned some national attention. Media organizations ranging from NBC News to Education Week to Teen Vogue have reported on the learning opportunity that caucuses provide for students at DMPS and other districts across Iowa.
Besides serving as caucus sites, our public schools have also been frequent stops on the campaign trail. Fourteen of the candidates for the Democratic nomination have paid a visit to DMPS. Some have toured our facilities, read to our students, fielded their questions, addressed their concerns and lauded their activism. Others have rented school gyms as a good location for a neighborhood town hall meeting.
Roosevelt High School even hosted the student-led Youth Voice presidential forum last fall that drew six candidates to the same stage. U.S. Senator Michael Bennet, Congresswoman Tulsi Gabbard, U.S. Senator Bernie Sanders, retired admiral Joe Sestak, businessman Tom Steyer, and entrepeneur Andrew Yang responded to questions from students; one candidate noted it was more substantive than any of the nationally televised candidate debates.
Those 14 prospective presidents have included all four of the current frontrunners: Sanders, former Vice-President Joe Biden, and U.S. Senator Elizabeth Warren and Mayor Pete Buttigieg. They’ve also included some whose candidacies have since fallen by the wayside. Throughout the entire winnowing process, we’ve run alongside the candidates to chronicle their visits and preserve a record of them (be sure to see our photo album below).
It’s been a great opportunity for the whole school district, just as Monday night will be for the whole state.
Let’s take full advantage of it.
