Before the ballot

Before the ballot

How does the school prepare Marksmen to be responsible and engaged citizens – especially in today’s heated political scene? 

Misleading reports. Personal attacks. Polarizing views.

Today’s political scene is daunting for anyone to step into — let alone a young Marksman and a first-time voter.

But exercising the American citizen’s right to vote is almost an obligation.

Guided by three points of the “Civic Responsibility” principles outlined in Goals IV, the school’s state­ment of objectives adopted in early 2017, the classes and culture of 10600 Preston Rd. are preparing students to take their first steps as true citizens.

• “Seek opportunities for students to become engaged in civic activities.”

The school helped faculty and seniors register as voters Oct. 5 to prepare for the midterm elections Nov. 6. A voter registration table, headed by Marksman mother Rebecca Wilson and a handful of volunteers, was set up in the Commons, and citizens older than 17 years and ten months could stop by to register.

“When we look at something as simple as voter registration, it’s a very specific action that really contributes to the realization of Goal VI [the sixth stated objective of Goals IV] at the school, which is Civic Responsibility,” Upper School Head John Ashton said.

In fact, an often-overlooked 1985 law in the Texas Election Code man­dates that public and private schools help students register to vote. The law is, for the most part, unknown and rarely enforced. According to the Dal­las Morning News, only 34 percent of high schools requested voter registra­tion forms from the state of Texas since October 2016, which is one of the first steps of the law.

“Like most schools, we didn’t make a decision not to do something,” Ashton said. “It just was something we weren’t doing. Frankly, I give all the credit to Mrs. Wilson and the parent volunteers.”

In the table’s first year, 24 students and faculty registered, and now Ash­ton plans on having the table set up twice every year.

“We’re going to provide that op­portunity in the fall and provide that opportunity in the spring,” Ashton said, “and just make it an ongoing thing that we do for voter registration, which raises awareness but also pro­vides a good service.”

• “Design new course offer­ings that prepare students for public service, civic lead­ership and governance.”

History and Social Sciences Depart­ment Chair David Fisher believes his department is the most efficient at helping students develop their own opinions because it has the most op­portunities to discuss current events.

“It is very specifically the job of the History and Social Sciences Department to educate students to become informed and active citizens in this country and in the globe,” Fisher said. “I’ve made it something that I want us to do more of and to be more aware of as our mission as teachers.”

Although there are only three required history classes for Upper Schoolers, the department offers five additional electives for students to pursue their individual interests.

These electives focus on analyzing more recent events, just like the new international relations and compara­tive government course Fisher hopes to introduce in upcoming years.

“This department is making a strong attempt to become more engaged, most explicitly in the type of courses that we’re offering” Fisher said. “You see the new courses coming out, like Spec Ops, are about contem­porary events. Economics is popular, I think, because it’s contemporary. I think when we introduce Comparative Government, it will also get takers be­cause it’s about how the world works.”

Fisher, who understands political debates often appear in his classes, supports civil discussion based on facts and values. He believes teachers need to be unbiased when confront­ing delicate topics like the midterm elections if they expect their students to also be unbiased.

“Teachers have to show that they’re willing to change and to be ed­ucated,” Fisher said. “There’s a problem sometimes that we believe education can change the way peo­ple behave and think. If we didn’t believe that, we wouldn’t be educators. But often, we’re hypocrites.”

As long as the conversation remains civil, Fisher encour­ages informal discus­sions in the class­room. In his mind, those necessary discussions are safer within the structure of the classroom en­vironment than out in the real world.

“For democracies to function, we have to have informed citizens who know the consequences of voting, who under­stand how the mechanisms work, who un­derstand the position of the United States in the world today,” Fisher said. “And I think for that to happen, a lot more of what we teach has to be contemporary.”

• “Encourage a regular and healthy public discourse among students regarding public policy issues and solutions.”

For students who want to become more engaged, political discus­sions don’t have to be limited to the classroom. There are multiple other opportunities on campus for students to have conversations with their peers.

“Can [political discussions] also happen in organizations and clubs and extracurriculars?” Fisher said. “Yes. We have Political Forum. We have Model UN.”

Senior Gabe Bankston finds that as a member of several politically diverse groups around campus, he’s able to have respectful, level-headed conver­sations in any environment.

“I’d say choir has been the most liberal environment I’ve been in at St. Mark’s,” Bankston said. “I’m also in football, where I’d say the majority of guys are conservative… Overall, having discussions with students and teachers on campus, it stays pretty civil.”

For senior Noah Carr, his goal in political conversation isn’t to change others’ opinions, but rather to expose others to his viewpoint and expose himself to others’ viewpoints.

“The conversation’s most con­structive if it’s you and one person, maybe two other people, because that keeps the conversation a dialogue where it’s possible to talk without any­thing getting heated,” Carr said.

Although he’s too young to vote this November, Carr still appreciates the importance of exercising the right to vote.

“I think it’s important to be excit­ed about politics,” Carr said, “and I think just being able to cast your vote is an opportunity that a lot of people undervalue.”