A Letter to High School Climate Strikers

Dear high school climate strikers,

What you are planning is remarkable. 

I’m a lawyer, parent, and former law clerk to Justice Ginsburg (yes, the Notorious RBG).  As I asked myself what I might do to support you, I tried to imagine what might be on your mind.  You may be wondering what it will feel like to walk out. You may be thinking about what the next step might be once the strike is over.  You may want to help our democracy work better on a whole range of issues that impact young people.  

I can’t answer all these questions for you, but I can offer some tools and ideas to help you find your own answers.  

Here’s a list of my top 3 offerings that will help accomplish this.

1.    Register or preregister to vote.  At The Civics Center, we have links to your state’s voter registration forms. If you like QR codes, we also have that.  Making sure you have legislators at all levels of government, regardless of party, who are committed to your issues is key to getting anything done.

2.    Work through a club.  You can add voter registration to the activities your climate club will sponsor every year or start a new club to focus on voter registration.  Passing the leadership baton from one class to the next will help sustain what you are building now. If you don’t yet have a club at your school, we have materials to help you start one.    

3.    Participate in High School Voter Registration Week (Sept. 23-27).  Through our online info sessions, you will learn about organizing a voter registration drive in your high school.  Signing up is super easy, and the session takes less than an hour. We have sessions focused on different states over the next two weeks.  You can put your learning into action during the climate strike on Sept. 20 and into the following week.   

Along the way, you’ll help increase youth voting rates and have a lot of fun. 

Thanks for all you are doing! 

Laura W. Brill
Director 
The Civics Center