Kids Voting

Harford County teachers have begun preliminary steps in preparing for this fall's new curriculum that will target voter apathy.In September, the county's 35,000 students will be participating in Maryland's first endeavor to encourage parental voting and instill lifelong voting habits in school-age children as part of a national program, Kids Voting.Maryland is the 12th state to implement the program, which began in Arizona in 1988 and has now expanded to 20 states.Representatives from each county school met recently at Aberdeen Middle School to begin planning for the studies, which will culminate in students' voting in the Nov. 8 gubernatorial election with their parents.

Blame the lawyers, administrators, judge for special-ed lawsuitIn the article "Judge insists pact set specifics" (Oct. 10), U.S. District Judge Marvin Garbis lambastes school system administrators and plaintiff lawyers for "devious," "outrageous" and "ugly" conduct while trying to settle the city school lawsuit.I believe those two parties are guilty of all that and more. If they had the children's best interests as their primary goal, why hasn't this issue been resolved? Who benefited from dragging this out?

A nonprofit voter education program is planting the seeds for good citizenship in Baltimore County with a campaign to encourage children to vote in the future -- and their parents to exercise the responsibility now.Many of the children won't be old enough to vote for a dozen years. But by that time, they will be old hands at campaigns and candidates, thanks to Kids Voting Maryland, the program intended to educate and motivate future voters from kindergarten through high school.The program expanded into the county yesterday with ceremonies at Towson High School that included a tree-planting, band and chorus performances and "wishes" for a better world from fourth-graders at nearby Pleasant Plains Elementary.

As they sat around the lunch table yesterday, the topic was, predictably, politics.But these were no ordinary Baltimore County voters rehashing the general election. They were 10-year-olds reflecting on their first time in the booth as part of Kids Voting, a national mock election for school-age children."Mom said I should have my own opinion," said Rebecca Josowitz, a fifth-grader at Lutherville Elementary School who voted to give President Clinton a second term. "I felt like I was grown up and doing the same thing my parents were doing."

Kids Voting USA, a national program to encourage voter participation, has named Deborah J. Heiberger, Harford County's assistant superintendent of curriculum and instruction, its Educator of the Year.Heiberger organized Maryland's first Kids Voting project in Harford for the 1994 state elections.On Nov. 8, more than 16,000 students, 41 percent of the county schools' enrollment, voted for governor, senator and other offices at official polling places along with their parents. The students' votes were counted but weren't added to any candidate's official tally.

The first- and second-graders at St. Margaret School in Bel Air were clearly enjoying their break from lessons.The children giggled and piped in with a boisterous "noooooo" when they were asked if they wanted to go back to their classrooms on such a beautiful Wednesday morning.A few minutes later, though, the laughter turned to seriousness. Standing on the steps of the Harford County Courthouse, their voices rang out along Main Street as they sang, "I can vote."It's a message they and 40,000 other Harford County schoolchildren will take to heart between now and Nov. 8.The Harford students are the first in Maryland to participate in a national, nonprofit program called Kids Voting.

If I were one of the Kids Voting, I'd probably cast my ballot for Mark Decker.I might not know what he stands for, or what his views on parks or schools or taxes are. It wouldn't matter to me whether he appealed to my parents or my neighbors. I wouldn't care if he's got a list of civic achievements a mile long, or even what office he's running for.What matters is that he's handing out these baseball trading cards with his picture on them, holding a bat like the big leaguers, no less. Awesome.

As they sat around the lunch table yesterday, the topic was, predictably, politics.But these were no ordinary Baltimore County voters rehashing the general election. They were 10-year-olds reflecting on their first time in the booth as part of Kids Voting, a national mock election for school-age children."Mom said I should have my own opinion," said Rebecca Josowitz, a fifth-grader at Lutherville Elementary School who voted to give President Clinton a second term. "I felt like I was grown up and doing the same thing my parents were doing."

The children were quite confident yesterday about their choices or governor of Maryland."She'll put more cops on the street," said Joppatowne Elementary kindergarten student Bernie Schuler about Republican Ellen R. Sauerbrey."

He who has the most stickers wins. Or so it seemed Tuesday night at a campaign forum at Hall's Cross Roads Elementary School in Aberdeen.Children raced around the school gym, collecting as many colorful stickers as they could from the 32 candidates who assembled to meet the students. But the grip-and-grin session had a serious purpose, too."It's a way for the kids to have contact with the candidates in a nonthreatening way," said Patricia L. Skebeck, Hall's Cross Roads principal. "We wanted it to be a fun night."

Mount Airy Middle School is decorated for a civics lesson that only comes around once every four years -- the presidential election.Forget the candidates' political spin. When it comes to campaigning, the Carroll County school's seventh-graders seem to know all the essentials -- from researching Bob Dole's proposed tax cut on the Internet to wearing sandwich boards for President Clinton."It's the best way for me to get my message out to everyone in school," said seventh-grader Patrick Gore, 12, who donned the boards yesterday to advise his classmates to "Vote for Clinton or you're voting for crime."

A nonprofit voter education program is planting the seeds for good citizenship in Baltimore County with a campaign to encourage children to vote in the future -- and their parents to exercise the responsibility now.Many of the children won't be old enough to vote for a dozen years. But by that time, they will be old hands at campaigns and candidates, thanks to Kids Voting Maryland, the program intended to educate and motivate future voters from kindergarten through high school.The program expanded into the county yesterday with ceremonies at Towson High School that included a tree-planting, band and chorus performances and "wishes" for a better world from fourth-graders at nearby Pleasant Plains Elementary.

Kids Voting USA, a national program to encourage voter participation, has named Deborah J. Heiberger, Harford County's assistant superintendent of curriculum and instruction, its Educator of the Year.Heiberger organized Maryland's first Kids Voting project in Harford for the 1994 state elections.On Nov. 8, more than 16,000 students, 41 percent of the county schools' enrollment, voted for governor, senator and other offices at official polling places along with their parents. The students' votes were counted but weren't added to any candidate's official tally.

The children were quite confident yesterday about their choices or governor of Maryland."She'll put more cops on the street," said Joppatowne Elementary kindergarten student Bernie Schuler about Republican Ellen R. Sauerbrey."

If I were one of the Kids Voting, I'd probably cast my ballot for Mark Decker.I might not know what he stands for, or what his views on parks or schools or taxes are. It wouldn't matter to me whether he appealed to my parents or my neighbors. I wouldn't care if he's got a list of civic achievements a mile long, or even what office he's running for.What matters is that he's handing out these baseball trading cards with his picture on them, holding a bat like the big leaguers, no less. Awesome.

He who has the most stickers wins. Or so it seemed Tuesday night at a campaign forum at Hall's Cross Roads Elementary School in Aberdeen.Children raced around the school gym, collecting as many colorful stickers as they could from the 32 candidates who assembled to meet the students. But the grip-and-grin session had a serious purpose, too."It's a way for the kids to have contact with the candidates in a nonthreatening way," said Patricia L. Skebeck, Hall's Cross Roads principal. "We wanted it to be a fun night."

Blame the lawyers, administrators, judge for special-ed lawsuitIn the article "Judge insists pact set specifics" (Oct. 10), U.S. District Judge Marvin Garbis lambastes school system administrators and plaintiff lawyers for "devious," "outrageous" and "ugly" conduct while trying to settle the city school lawsuit.I believe those two parties are guilty of all that and more. If they had the children's best interests as their primary goal, why hasn't this issue been resolved? Who benefited from dragging this out?

The first- and second-graders at St. Margaret School in Bel Air were clearly enjoying their break from lessons.The children giggled and piped in with a boisterous "noooooo" when they were asked if they wanted to go back to their classrooms on such a beautiful Wednesday morning.A few minutes later, though, the laughter turned to seriousness. Standing on the steps of the Harford County Courthouse, their voices rang out along Main Street as they sang, "I can vote."It's a message they and 40,000 other Harford County schoolchildren will take to heart between now and Nov. 8.The Harford students are the first in Maryland to participate in a national, nonprofit program called Kids Voting.