Wouldn’t it be great if you could get a day off school, make some money, maybe log in a few community service hours, but learn at the same time? Guess what - you can! Join democracyLIVE!, San Mateo County’s student poll worker program, and do your part for the community.

California established the student poll worker program in 1996 in an effort to get high school seniors involved in the community while getting an inside look at democracy in action. In 2006, Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger expanded the program by allowing students aged 16 and up with at least a 2.5 grade point average to serve as poll workers.

During the February 3 Presidential Primary Election, almost 500 students from schools throughout the Peninsula area took part in this program. Participation averaged 15 students per school, with a few notable exceptions.

Most notable is Woodside High School, where 33 students took part in the program. Woodside High School has participated in democracyLIVE! since its inception in 2005, and interest in the program has reached an all-time high at this school.

Economics teacher Wendy Porter, who assisted coordination of the program at Woodside High School believes that the heightened participation may be due specifically to the overall interest in the Presidential election cycle, but also believes that there may be an increased awareness of social responsibility.

“When you ask [the students] about it, they’re positive about the connection with the community,” Porter said. “There’s that sense of empowerment of students not just sitting there and waiting for adults to tell them what to do, but helping them.”

The Elections Office opted not to ask schools to support the program for the April 8 Special Congressional Open Primary Election to prevent any issues from arising due to school absences. With all the elections going on this year, it made sense to us to not ask students to partake in an election that would likely get little action at the polls.

With poll worker recruitment just around the corner for the June 3 Statewide Direct Primary Election, we’re going full force with publicity efforts.

Wild 94.9 (KYLD), a Clear Channel radio station in San Francisco, is featuring the program in a special interview being aired on April 20. Our democracyLIVE! Coordinator had the opportunity to sit in with Jon Manuel and Anna Uribe to talk about democracyLIVE! and how students and the community both benefit from this great program. They’re also showing their support of democracyLIVE! by airing special public service announcements throughout the week, encouraging students to sign up for this unique learning experience. Listen to Wild 94.9’s Jon Manuel’s Keyword Community program on April 20 from 7 a.m. to 7:30 a.m. to check out our interview! The Keyword Community program airs every Sunday.

democracyLIVE! can also be found on MySpace and Facebook, which are social networking web sites offering an interactive online experience. By maintaining a democracyLIVE! page on each of these sites, we’re utilizing an online version of word of mouth promotion.

Schools county-wide have already expressed their interest in supporting the democracyLIVE! for its fourth election running. However, because most of the county’s schools will also be in the midst of finals and graduation ceremonies, the turnout is not likely to reach the same heights as February. But support is not limited solely to actually working the polls. What’s important is that people understand what the democracyLIVE! program is about and that students remember its message when voting becomes a reality and the ability to contribute to the community is that much stronger.

Saad Abu-Dagen, a student at Burlingame High School, said of the program:

Working as a student poll worker was an exhilarating experience. It taught me a lot about the voting process and about people in general. I believe this experience will aid me throughout life and this November when I vote in the Presidential Election. When I filled out the paperwork to volunteer, I thought about what I was getting into and I realized that I would be given responsibilities that are dire to this country…I was to be trusted with information I held in my hands and that made me feel important; the fact that I was in charge of a part of a political election makes me wonder what else I could do to help my community/government.