Kentucky Teacher Prepares Students for Lifetime of Engaged Citizenship

By Bridget Kaiser-Munday

When I tell people I teach seniors in high school, the shock, exasperation, and sometimes confusion always takes me by surprise. My favorite part of the conversation is when I follow that statement up with the fact I teach government and politics and I love it.

Usually, the face looking back at me is horrified. Seniors in May aren’t usually my favorite creatures, but to have the ability to teach my students, who are on the cusp of adulthood and making big adult decisions, is truly a gift. Watching my students experience their first election last year is one of those moments of why I teach and the successes I can see, both inside and outside of the classroom.

I never thought I’d be a government teacher. If you ask any of my friends or family, I don’t talk about politics outside of the classroom. I don’t enjoy the raucous conversations or the debates. However, I do enjoy watching the process of learning, discovery, and growth that students do experience when they truly understand they have a voice, a vision, and a decision on how to lead our nation.

Kentucky had our gubernatorial election last year and my students were glued to the election, as many of them could vote for the very first time. Prior to that November day, they wrote to the governor on their own and wrote to their new and old representatives.

In this election, they finally had their chance to voice their opinion through voting and the lightbulbs went off. They understood the assignment, as the current meme says, both literally and figuratively. My students understood their voice, even though the governor doesn’t have any say over so many things they are required to learn about in AP Government, and they wanted to make their voices heard.

Some students were disheartened that the person they wanted for a position lost. Some were excited the person they backed won. But I feel like the learning process they experienced through researching, listening, debating, and collaborating was a definite win that will assist them, and the rest of us, in creating a brighter nation full of innovative and creative citizens.

The voting that happened in Kentucky by my students was a lesson I cannot repeat, even if I want to. To apply what we learned and what they value to the world around them is truly an aspect of our world that I want each of my students; to walk away feeling like they made an impact.

Bridget Kaiser-Munday teaches government at St. Henry District High School in Erlanger, Ky. She is also a member of the Bill of Rights Institute National Teacher Council.