Poly Shares Election Resources

Since the spring, members of Poly's faculty and staff have attended professional learning opportunities from leading state and national organizations on how to foster civil discourse—which is especially important during an election year. Inspired by these professional growth experiences, the school has been offering monthly, faculty-led civil discourse workshops for the entire Poly faculty and staff.

“The time that we have spent as a whole on learning strategies, leaning into difficult discussions, and preparing for a variety of scenarios and responses that could emerge reflects just how close we hold our values of empathy, openness, and democracy in our learning community,” said Director of DEI Michaela Mares-Tamayo. “We are putting in the work to further embody what it means to think critically, question thoughtfully, and lead inclusively as expressions of our vision and mission.”

In addition to employee resources, Poly students have also contributed to an environment of civic engagement. Every election cycle, the seniors in the Upper School AP English: City of Angels class produce a voter guide to share with the student, faculty, and staff community, focusing on the statewide propositions on the ballot. This year, there are 10 statewide propositions that all Californians will be voting on. 

The class-created guide aims to help voters understand what those measures are proposing, what a yes or no vote means, and who supports or opposes the measure. This voter guide helps students understand the issues at hand and further prepare them for a lifetime of civic engagement. The guide is not meant to convince readers to vote a certain way, merely to present the relevant background and electoral information through the lens of a Poly student.

“This project is a great example of how our class tries to combine traditional academic exercises with real-world issues as well as community engagement,” said City of Angels co-teacher Rachel Dunham. “By researching the propositions, designing a page, and sharing with the community, the students in the class practice the skills we're building surrounding collaboration, synthesis of different viewpoints into a community presentation, and critical thinking about complex issues. In their reflections, many students said that this project has changed how they will approach voting and consider more than just the big-name races on the ballot—and how they can go about doing the research to be an informed voter.”

We’re grateful for the community-wide effort to share resources for the upcoming election. Civil discourse and civic engagement are at the heart of Poly’s values and priorities for this election and years to come.