About Student Voices

The Student Voices Project encourages the civic engagement of young people by bringing the study of local government, policy issues, and political campaigns into the classroom. Working with school districts throughout the country, Student Voices makes the study of government relevant and exciting for high school students by helping them examine how issues they consider important are played out in their own governments and election campaigns. Each class formulates a Youth Issues Agenda, reflecting the issues that are of most concern to students and their communities. These issues provide the focus for students through the rest of the program, ensuring they research and act on issues that concern them. Students use the interactive Student Voices website to find information on issues and candidates and discuss policy issues online. Through classroom visits and forums, students raise their concerns directly to political candidates and public officials and hear what can be done to address them. Finally, students communicate their concerns to the general public by making their voices heard in the news media.

The Student Voices Project is an initiative of the Annenberg Public Policy Center and is made possible by funding from the Annenberg Foundation. Schools using the Student Voices project exist in California, Chicago, Columbus, Denver, Newark, New Jersey, North Texas, Philadelphia, Greater Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, Tulsa, San Antonio, Seattle, Washington, D.C. and other regions throughout the United States.

In 2008, Student Voices was named a Keystone Civic Program by the Pennsylvania Coalition for Representative Democracy (PennCORD). Meeting strict criteria such as adaptability, accessibility and fitting current civic standards, Keystone Programs "develop civic engagement in the student body and reinvigorate the civic mission of schools."

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