Oshkosh West Juniors Inspire Action Into Youth Voters

With millions of Americans waiting in suspense for the November election, voting matters now more than ever, especially for newly minted adults prepping for that inaugural ballot. To address a lack of voter education in K-12 schools, two West students, as well as a number of volunteers, are spreading awareness about this vitally important civic duty. 

Juniors Anika Larson and Simone Labillois-Steffens started the “Let’s Vote Wisconsin” organization to normalize one hour of voting education taught in K-12 schools every year. 

“Our main goal for this program is to influence the youth voters and educate them,” Labillois-Steffens said.

Larson and Labillois-Steffens both grew up in an atmosphere where the importance of voting was stressed, which is why they felt they had to speak up. 

“Wisconsin’s youth voter turnout, ages 18-24, is super low and since we are both pretty involved, we both wanted to see that change,” Labilliois-Steffens said.

Even though Larson had the idea for the program in the back of her mind for a while, she decided to actually pursue it because of the statistics.

“In Wisconsin, the youth vote carries more sway than in any other state, and we know that it is really important for the youth to be educated and actually get out and vote,” she said. 

Labillois-Steffens encourages students to speak out as their voices will come together to create the future they will live in.

“I think that the youth is the most important vote because what they vote for is going to affect them for the longest part of their lives,” she said. “For example, older people might not vote a certain way because they won't be experiencing it for much longer, but the youth sees the issues that are currently at hand, and they will vote according to that.”

The girls decided to start with elementary schoolers, predicting greater involvement with youth educated from the beginning. Each of the girls also have personal goals for the new organization. Larson hopes to see a greater number of youth interested in their message. 

“The idea is to teach K-12 kids and have them understand how voting is important and why they need to vote so when they get to that age they can be involved,” Larson said. “My personal goal is to get kids involved in voting and to get kids to understand why voting is so important, and in 10-15 years, to see an increase in youth voting in Wisconsin.”  

In order to get the message out to students, Labillois-Steffens believes communication must be emphasized. 

“One of our goals is to spread our message around Wisconsin and around Oshkosh, so I'm hoping that people are able to hear our goals, and people are able to become involved and visit our website to find out more about us,” she said. 

The juniors have already taken great steps in order to see these ideas come to fruition. It started with getting in contact with lawyers and drafting a bill. 

The volunteers of “Let’s Vote Wisconsin” gather together to compile resources for K-12 schools. Students can learn more about their cause on their website https://www.letsvotewisconsin.org/ .

“The bill would propose that it would require one hour of voting education in the classroom for K-12 students every year,” Larson said. “It's not a huge commitment, but we feel that because a lot of kids don't get that experience at home, they just don't know because it's not something that they are familiar with.”

Currently, they are waiting to send the bill to representatives in order to reach the Wisconsin state legislature with their ideas. Both Larson and Labillois-Steffens are optimistic about their idea because of how important the role of a political education is in a young person’s life. 

“We feel like the classroom is where we can mimic that home environment where students learn that voting is important so we can increase the turn out in 10-15 years,” Larson said. 

After becoming involved with the League of Women voters, the two were invited to an event commemorating the centennial of the ratification of the 19th amendment. There, they were introduced to a reporter who later asked them to be featured on WLUK-TV, the Green Bay Fox network.

“I wasn't really nervous until the day of, but once it started it was really cool to have recognition and have people recognize and understand that our program was doing good,” Larson said. 

The news story was a spotlight on the girls and their story, as well as the program's volunteers. Junior Michael Stack decided to devote his time to a cause he felt would benefit those in the future. 

“I saw their Instagram and then I followed them and I said I’d help volunteer,” he said. “I just thought it was a really cool opportunity to help support them.”

Stack’s main job is editing informational videos in order to provide content for the elementary schoolers. 

“It's fun, it's kinda like a social event that's safe with COVID because it’s outside,” he said. “We just talk for a while and it's fun to know that you’re helping the future kids of Wisconsin.”  

North student Henry Fox was also introduced to “Let’s Vote Wisconsin” through Instagram. His initial interest led him to contact Larson and get involved in volunteer work. So far, Fox has enjoyed helping out and is looking forward to continuing with them.

“I definitely would love to stick with them in the future, whether that’s making videos or going to classrooms, anything I can,” he said. “I am very passionate about people getting out their votes and enforcing change they want to see, so I think this initiative is teaching kids in our area to be educated which is really important.” 

While the efforts of the organization's volunteers is crucial, it's even more important that the community doesn't refrain from sharing their voice. Larson encourages everyone to speak out.

“Change is affected by kids’ voting, so if people don't vote, they can’t see the change they want in the world,” she said. “I think that is something that we want to give people, the tools to be able to help change the world.”

Larson welcomes all support and help from teens around the community. But she believes that in order for the effort to be worthwhile, the work needs to be done out of a true dedication to the topic. 

“To get youth more involved, I’d say to find an issue that you are really passionate about,” she said. “Not only something that you enjoy doing but something that does good in the world. Focus your energies on that.”  

Labillois-Steffens recognizes that the only thing needed to make a change is a small idea, and a passion to sustain it. The pair hope to press on so that their message is heard by even the smallest children who will one day vote to change the world. 

“I think it can be hard sometimes to keep going,” Labillois-Steffens said, “But I would say it so important to not forget why you started doing what you do and not forget your original goal, because that's just the most important thing to help others.”

By Index Staff

Oshkosh West Index Volume 117 Issue I

October 2nd, 2020