Democracy Class
www.democracyclass.com
Over the past 30 years, civic education has been systematically cut from public schools.
Opportunities to learn about politics and government are rare, and programs to register
newly eligible high school students are not widespread. This is the next frontier to further
youth civic engagement.
Five years ago, Rock the Vote launched Democracy Class with the vision of engaging young
Americans in elections through a high school civics education program. Each year we
celebrate Democracy Day and the anniversary of the 26th Amendment, which gave 18year-olds the right to vote. On Democracy Day, teachers in all 50 states commit to teaching
Democracy Class in their schools, reaching tens of thousands of students directly and
nearly a million through marketing and outreach campaigns.
Democracy Day celebrations have included Darren Criss from Fox’s hit series Glee and
radio station KIIS FM joining us to host Democracy Class at Alexander Hamilton High
School in Los Angeles, California and Nikki Jean joining us at the National Constitution
Center in Philadelphia for a rally with former Governor Ed Rendell and students from high
schools across the city. Democracy Class has been covered by national media including
MTV’s The Seven, CBS Radio, Fox’s Good Day LA and the Huffington Post resulting in
over 200 million media impressions since it’s launch.
From coast to coast we partner with educators, artists, celebrities and elected officials to
bring Democracy Class to high school students. Some highlights have included: U.S.
Representative Jay Inslee joined students at Lake Washington High School in Kirkland,
Washington and Secretary of State Jon Husted led Democracy Class at LaBrae High School
in Northeast Ohio. The School District of Philadelphia taught Democracy Class in more
than 35 of the city’s high schools. Hip-hop duo the New Boyz brought Democracy Class on
a three-city tour through Detroit, Cleveland and Cincinnati. Jermaine Dupri teamed up
with State Senator Jason Carter to teach the class in Atlanta. The Youth Policy Institute,
the largest after-school program in the country, taught Democracy Class in dozens of its
high schools in Los Angeles with Vampire Diaries star and singer Kat Graham, NFL
players Shawne Merriman and Bernard Berrian, Major League Soccer pro Jimmy Conrad,
and rappers David Banner and Asher Roth. To round out the school year, platinum-selling
artist Jason Derulo surprised students at Bronx Guild High School, teaching Democracy
Class and registering the seniors to vote.
About Democracy Class
Democracy Class is a one-class-period program that uses video, a classroom discussion and
a mock election to teach young people the skills to navigate the elections process and
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engage as active citizens. As part of this national launch of the program, we partnered with
local and national organizations including the National Education Association, the Future
Educators Association, YouthBuild and the Youth Policy Institute, the largest after-school
provider for high schools in the country.
Rock the Vote has served as the leader in engaging young people in politics for over two
decades. We have worked to simplify and demystify voter registration and elections for
young adults by using the latest technology and popular culture to energize young
Americans to participate in the political process. Holding true to this mission and given the
incredible need to foster civic participation among our country’s young people, we
developed Democracy Class.
Democracy Class targets high school students across the country, bringing them into the
political process and encouraging them to get involved. Through the program, we have
developed new interactive learning methods to foster civic engagement and to reach a
generation of young people and register them to vote.
Democracy Class is supported by an impressive and diverse advisory board of education
leaders, civic engagement experts and artists, including: Ted McConnell, Executive
Director, Campaign for the Civic Mission of Schools; Susan Griffin, Executive Director,
National Council of Social Studies; Steve Barr, Founder and Chair Emeritus, Green Dot
Public Schools; and Benji and Joel Madden of the band Good Charlotte. A full list of
advisory board members is available on the Democracy Class site.
(www.democracyclass.com)
DemocracyClass.com is a destination for students, offering interviews with Alicia Keys,
NBA All-Star Baron Davis, singer Michael Franti, Good Charlotte and Cali Swag District
where these artists discuss the issues that concern them most. The site also features a
video with John Legend that encourages students to bring Democracy Class to their school,
as well as information on volunteer opportunities to register voters and free music from
more than 20 different bands.
Program Components:
● Interactive lesson plan (45 minutes) that uses music and popular culture as a
means to teach students about civics and democracy. This can be downloaded
from the Democracy Day website (www.democracyday.com).
● An online hub (www.democracyclass.com) that allows students to learn
more about elections and civic engagement.
● Videos, music and personal appearances from Rock the Vote artists, who share
their thoughts on the issues most important to them and encourage students to
take action by participating in politics.
● Voter registration of eligible students.
Lesson Plan Overview:
● The class begins with a video covering the history of voting rights and discusses how
young people are affected by elections.
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● The lesson plan continues with a discussion of national and local issues identified by
the students, demonstrating how the leaders we elect to office impact most of our
daily concerns.
● Eligible students are then registered to vote, and non-eligible students have an
opportunity to “pledge to vote.”
● The lesson ends with an in-class mock election where students run for office based
on a platform of issues they support.
A Proven Model:
We’ve spent the last several years building and testing the program across the country. In
that time, we’ve partnered with groups like Upward Bound, Mikva Challenge and
YouthBuild to bring Democracy Class to their programs. We’ve also presented at various
conferences such as the National Council for the Social Studies’ annual meeting. The
feedback from students and teachers has been overwhelmingly positive: “Great program,”
“Outstanding program and a treat for the students” and “The opportunity to collaborate
with respected organizations like Rock the Vote greatly enhanced the education of my
students.”
Contact:
Rachel Centariczki | Democracy Class Director
Rock the Vote
[email protected]
202-719-9944
About Rock the Vote:
Rock the Vote's mission is to engage and build political power for young people in our
country. Using music, popular culture, new technologies, and grassroots organizing for
more than 20 years, Rock the Vote has registered more than six million young people to
vote. www.RockTheVote.com
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