Back-to-Back: C-M Registers Second Silver Award;
Daniels Recognized for Voter Registration Efforts
C
anon-McMillan High School students registered 68 percent
of its senior class to vote to earn the Silver Award at the
Governors Civic Engagement Award Ceremony May 7 at the
William Pitt Ballroom in the William Pitt Union at the University of
Pittsburgh.
In addition, senior Abby Daniels received an individual award for
organizing a voter registration drive at the high school while also
serving as a poll worker on election day.
Canon-McMillan’s Silver Award was its second in as many years.
Miss Daniels and Abby Mele also received certificates for helping
with voter registration drives throughout the school year.
“We absolutely wanted to maintain our status and win the award
for the second straight year,” Miss Daniels said. “I think this will give
other classes something to strive for year after year.
“I think we educated a lot of people in the process about
registering to vote. We helped and showed them that it is actually
easier than they thought. That was a big take away for them.”
Miss Daniels, who plans to attend American University,
Washington, D.C., plans to major in political science.
“As we got closer to election day, we held voter drives and visited
contemporary American democracy.”
She credited other students and said D.J. Gambridge, who
teaches contemporary American democracy at Canon-McMillan,
“orchestrated the whole effort.”
Gambridge said that students Angela Dittmar and Steve
Hubsch also played important roles in the registration efforts.
Miss Mele, a junior, said getting involved in the effort was
educational.
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“I’m 17-years-old and not of age to vote,” Mele said. “Doing
something politically in the community was enlightening. I think
it helped us realize that when we become 18, we can truly make a
difference for future generations by coming together and voting.”
In all, six high schools in southwest Pennsylvania received
Governor’s Civic Engagement Awards (GCEA)for registering to vote
at least 65 percent of their eligible students.
The GCEA program, in its second year, encourages eligible
Pennsylvania high school students to participate in elections
as voter registration drive organizers, voters and poll workers.
Students are eligible to register to vote if they are 18 years of age
or will turn 18 on or before the date of the next primary, special,
municipal or general election.
The award is presented by the Pennsylvania Departments of State
and Education and the Governor’s Office.
Two high schools that registered 85 percent or more of their
eligible students received Gold Level awards at the regional
recognition event.
In addition to Canon-McMillan, four schools received Silver Level
awards, including Albert Gallatin Area High School, Trinity High
School and South Fayette High School.
This year 23 high schools around the state earned GCEA awards,
out of 63 schools that participated. A total of 3,109 eligible
students were registered through the program. Eight students won
individual awards.
In the GCEA program’s first year, 16 high schools earned awards
by registering 2,955 eligible students.