Politically Active Youth on Political Participation and Civic Education: What They Have to Teach Us
This discussion includes three politically active high school students who will share their experiences, perceptions and perspectives about their own participation, with suggestions of how to better take advantage of the talents and interests of young people in the political and civic processes of our nation. They will also discuss the relevance or lack of relevance of the civic education available to them and most American teenagers.
Thomas Senecal was born in September of 1992 and has been involved in politics for many years. The first campaign he remembers is Al Gore’s 2000 bid, and then Senator Kerry’s in 2004. More recently, in 2006 Thomas volunteered for, among others, Cardin for Senate and O’Malley for Governor. For 2008, he is a supporter of Senator Hillary Clinton, and founded Teens for Clinton (www.teensforclinton.org) in support of her. Thomas is currently a rising junior at Eleanor Roosevelt HS in Greenbelt, MD, and he is the Prince George's County delegate and co-chairman of the Governor’s Maryland Youth Council.
Kenton Ngo began working in politics at the age of 12, and has worked on campaigns ever since. In 2004, he started up my blog, 750 Volts, and watched the Virginia blogosphere explode in 2005 and 2006. In addition to blogging and working on campaigns, he became the youngest member of the Fairfax County Democratic Committee in December 2003 and was elected secretary of the Springfield District Democrats in 2007. He currently works as a field staffer for Rep. Leslie Byrne (VA-11).
Kenneth J. Bernstein is a National Board Certified social studies teacher. He holds degrees in music from Haverford, religion from St. Charles Seminary and teaching from Johns Hopkins University, with extensive doctoral studies in educational administration and policy studies at Catholic University, and additional studies in reading education at the University of Virginia. He has served as a peer reviewer for various educational publications and reviews educational and other books for a variety of publications. As teacherken, he blogs at Daily Kos (and elsewhere) on education, music, politics and life.
Mica Willis was born in 1990 in Washington DC, but was raised all over the world. She has been to nearly 20 countries and six continents. Her love of politics comes from learning about world politics in places such as Saudi Arabia and countries in South America. She was able to see how the politics of other countries could affect her, which got her anxious about American politics. Mica is Vice President of Teens for Clinton, where she has worked since February of 2007. She will be attending the College of William and Mary in the fall.
