California Teacher Shows Student Participation is Power

Elections still matter—even if you may be too young to vote.

That was the message Shoshana Adams wanted to instill in her students when she took them on an interactive journey through the election process that included having them “vote” on propositions that were on the ballot in California.

“I hope they learned that elections matter, even when the President is not on the ballot,” said Adams, who teaches history at Valhalla High School in El Cajon, Calif. She added she hoped her students learned they would have a chance to decide some laws in California with their vote directly or even propose a law themselves.

Adams used videos from YouTube and Edpuzzle to provide an interactive lesson to her students and used videos from a state nonprofit to inform them about propositions on the official California ballot. The videos explained how midterm elections and the voting process work, and each student then “voted” on those propositions and explained their decision.

Even though her students don’t have to answer every question when they submit their official ballot and vote, Adams said she hopes her students realize “any engagement is good engagement, and that voter participation is power.”

Adams noted her students were highly invested in the outcome of the state propositions since they "voted" on those as part of their assignment. They were also interested in the outcome of the Congressional elections nationwide.

“[There were] large groans when [they found] out they would have to wait for a run-off in Georgia,” Adams said.

Adams was inspired by her teachers growing up to pursue her passion for social studies and to help teenagers through difficult times. She also believes storytelling is essential to student engagement.

“I believe that the purpose of learning social studies is to better understand our world, recognize patterns from familiar stories, and apply these lessons when making decisions, especially when voting,” Adams said.

“This determines the future priorities for governments under which we live,” she added. “Since my students learned about the roots of democracy earlier this year, I wanted them to see instances of direct democracy are still practiced and to feel some investment in outcomes of the midterm election.”