The four nervous eighth-graders set up two large display boards decorated with American flag bouquets on Sen. Sandy Pappas' desk. The John Glenn Middle School students were at the Minnesota State Capitol one recent Friday morning to propose a constitutional amendment lowering the voting age to 16.
"We think 16 is the appropriate age to vote because people have, um. ... " Haley Husom, 13, paused to find the most appropriate word.
"Intellectual capacity?" said Pappas, DFL-St. Paul, filling in the blank with a laugh. Pappas introduced a bill in 2007 to lower the voting age in school district elections to 16, but it never received a hearing. She has also supported lowering the voting age in state and national elections.
"We want to lower the voting age and we want to educate kids better so they will know about the candidates and hopefully make the country a better place," said Sarah Jorgenson, 14, of John Glenn in Maplewood.
The voting-age project is part of the national nonprofit Project Citizen, which encourages youth involvement in state and local government. About 100 schools across Minnesota participated in the program this year, which culminated in a showcase Wednesday at the Capitol. Each student group presented projects to a panel of judges.
This is not the first time students have proposed legislation. Earlier this year, 16-year-old Joe Gibson, a Blooming Prairie High School sophomore, helped lower the blood donation age from 17 to 16, after he was turned away from giving blood.
Also this year, Minnetonka Middle School East sixth-graders Brendan Broviak and Hannah Ehresmann, both 11, testified during a Senate committee to make ice hockey Minnesota's state sport. The students collected 600 signatures supporting the proposal. Other notable laws proposed by students include the naming of the Honeycrisp apple as the state fruit in 2006 and the blueberry muffin as the state muffin in 1988.
The John Glenn students told Pappas that they had polled their peers and found that most middle school students said they did not feel involved in the political process and would vote in an election if given the chance.
"The election is this year and I've heard a lot of kids talking about how they aren't involved," said Lauren Becker, 14. "It would be good to get them involved so they can play a larger part in the community."
Added Haley Husom: "Younger people have a voice, too. It's not just the older and wiser people. I think children can be just as wise [as adults]."
When students first become involved with Project Citizen, they can't imagine having an audience with legislators or school board members, said Kathryn Marget, a middle-school gifted and talented teacher in the North St. Paul-Maplewood-Oakdale district. By the end of the program, they start to see that it's not a big deal, Marget said.
Not as much focus on what's happening today
"It's very authentic. The kids are not doing worksheets or reading out of a book; they're doing something that's real," Marget said. "What's taught in school is the history of government and history of politics. There's not as much focus on what's happening today."
Pappas said the students' interest in government appears to be part of the larger phenomenon behind this year's election, where younger people are becoming more involved in the political process.
"I think it's a really cool idea to get younger people engaged," Pappas said. "I want them all to run for the Legislature when they grow up."
After meeting with the students, Pappas agreed to reintroduce the bill to lower the voting age in school district elections next session and possibly incorporate state and national elections depending on the bill's support. The state senator asked the students to testify.
"There's a lot to be learned in the process for students, even if it doesn't become a law," Pappas said. "But I think these students get it -- that this is the way to become more engaged and more interested in the political process."
Anna Reubish, 14, an eighth-grader at John Glenn and another one of Marget's students, said Project Citizen is valuable because it encourages kids to step outside the classroom and find problems affecting their community.
"We can make a difference and we do have a different input on things," said Anna, whose group won the showcase and moves on to national competition. "Things have changed for us ... and we can change things for the better."
McKenna Ewen is an intern with startribune.com.
