Get ahead: student registration now open for 2024-2025 academic year

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High school students represent the future leaders and decision-makers of the nation. By participating in elections, they contribute to shaping policies that directly affect their lives and communities. 

Sofia Barrera 25’ believes that voting is her “​​civic duty, not only as an American, but also as a young adult who will soon get a say in who becomes an elected official.” 

Every year, the National History Honor Society at Carrollton presents information in an assembly about voter registration and gives students the opportunity to educate others on the history of voting, the upcoming elections, and how to register to vote. 

Student voter registration in Florida is not only a constitutional right but also a key avenue for young voices to be heard in the democratic process. Although students are not eligible to vote until they are 18, pre-registration begins at age 16. 

Dr. Gallagher, Upper School social studies teacher, hoped students took away three points from the assembly: “the importance of voting as a civic duty, a better sense of the state of American politics in 2024, and the significant political issues with which this country is currently dealing.” 

Encouraging young women to vote is especially crucial as women were not given the right to vote until 1920. Registering honors the sacrifices made by those who struggled for the right to participate in the democratic process. 

According to Dr. Gallagher, each year an “average of 30 to 50 students [register]” at Carrollton. “I’m also quite happy that some of my colleagues have participated in recent years, often after they have acquired U.S. citizenship,” he said.

Carrollton is not the only high school that allows their students to register through school. Two recent bills, the Senate bill 1228 and House bill 903, were filed in 2021, requiring high schools to present the steps to the voter registration process. 

With the increase of negativity surrounding American politics, Dr. Gallagher is “always looking for signs of hope and optimism to break through that negativity and [believes] our voter-registration events provide exactly that kind of opportunity.”