Harlem school’s registration drive targets would-be teen voters
Election Day is less than two months away, and the Eagle Academy for Young Men of Harlem is taking it upon themselves to make sure the youth meet the moment by hosting an on-campus voter registration drive on Thursday, September 26.
This Central Harlem school is encouraging its senior students — many of whom are 18 years old, or will be by Nov. 5 — to vote in this election. Another mission of this drive will be to encourage local Harlem residents to register to vote on Nov. 5. This push to the polls has been driven by Athletic Director and physical education teacher Jermel Collins-Day.
The 48-year-old Brooklyn native believes there is a major benefit to having young men in the K-12 space exposed to this initiative. “I think it’s imperative for them to have their right to vote… having the opportunity to be an asset to society is crucial,” he said.
This is the first time the school has had any event of this kind. Collins-Day added that many of the students were unfamiliar with a voter-registration event, much less the voting process.
“They said they didn’t know anything about how to vote or to go about voting. So this is a perfect segway for them to become productive members of society,” he said.
Collins-Day, who is also a doctoral candidate at Columbia University, has been coaching and teaching at Eagle Academy for nine years, and says he is encouraged by the questions his students have asked about the factors of this election. “The interests stem from: what are some of the politics, to policies on how to become a president.”
Seeing a Black woman with an opportunity to become the next president of the United States has been incredibly motivational for the kids, he added.
The students are well aware of the potential history that could be made if Vice President Kamala Harris — potentially the first woman, and only the second Black person — is elected, which Collins-Day says has been “huge” for the kids.
“If we can support her, it gives us hope for our future,” the coach said of the main response from the kids.
There will be a tent at the event on Thursday, which was planned to coincide with the annual parent engagement day, where students will be able speak to Harlem residents who come by. In the event of rain, Collins-Day said students will likely be moved to phone banking as a contingency plan for them to still reach the parents that aren’t able to attend.
The post Harlem school’s registration drive targets would-be teen voters appeared first on New York Amsterdam News.