Too young to vote, Springdale students perform civic duty in a different way

While too young to cast their own ballots in the general election, 11 Springdale High School students got a taste of civic duty as student poll workers Tuesday.

“It’s definitely a unique experience,” said Zachary Reynolds, 17. “I thought it was fun.”

Teacher Connor Green works with the Allegheny County’s Elections Division to promote interest among students to volunteer to be poll workers. Student poll workers must be at least 17 years old and take a training session. Students receive an excused absence from school and can pick between being paid or getting volunteer hours.

“I try to sell it: ‘Yes, you’ll miss school, but you’re doing a civic duty,’ ” Green said. “What makes me excited is when they come back and tell me about what they learned and what they took away.”

Reynolds worked a 6 a.m. to 1 p.m. shift at the polling location at O’Hara Elementary School. The location hosted three precincts, and his job was to direct voters to the right precinct.

“I enjoyed seeing the very broad group of people come in — there were people from every walk of life coming in,” he said. “It was very nice and well-run.”

Ayden Hollihan, 17, worked at Springdale Manor, where he handed out secrecy sheets and ballots and directed people to open spots to vote.

“I really like helping out and learning how voting works,” Hollihan said. “I’m going to be doing it next year. It was good information to learn.”

Green said his high school students know the basics of elections, but nothing tops the experience of seeing it first-hand.

“The most rewarding thing was learning the process,” said Khiyah Johnson, 17. Johnson worked at a polling place in East Deer. “It was a more hands-on approach for me.”

Johnson said she not only learned more about the voting process, but also how people with disabilities can vote.

For Garrett Myers, 17, the opportunity gave him a chance to learn more about politics. He also worked at a polling location in East Deer and distributed ballots to voters. He was impressed with how civil people were. He enjoyed working with the other poll workers.

Green said teaching students about civics is important.

“They are the future generation, and it is their civic duty,” he said.