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NEW BEDFORD, MA — Civil Civics, the A’s B4 program, and VOTE New Bedford announced today they would be partnering to better implement and deploy voter education resources and youth civics programming into New Bedford Public Schools. 

The direct connection between Civil Civics’ access to the schools and direct pipeline to city government, and VOTE New Bedford’s volunteer and resource development capacity will make for programs to allow schools to begin informing students, parents/guardians and faculty alike about the importance and collateral impact of civic engagement, without influencing their personal views. It will allow for more civil discourse, Socratic forums and education surrounding each level of government.

Manny DeBrito, the Executive Director of A’s B4 and New Bedford’s Election commissioner had the following to say, “We spoke about local politics, the importance of voting/voter turnout, filling out the 2020 census forms and a bit about my background and my job.”

DeBrito went on to say of the engagement from the students,”The kids were so engaged, asked wonderful questions and had great suggestions to improve turnout. I challenged them to speak to their parents about why they did or didn’t vote. Even if this doesn’t result in immediate benefit to turnout, hopefully we’re laying a good foundation for our future voters and leaders in the city.”

In an era where youth activism and advocacy is growing, and reaching people younger and younger it’s important to add comprehensive programs that explain the process of government to pair with their perspective of what they want to see happen in government.

For more information about Civil Civics or A’s B4 please visit http://achievementsby4.org, and https://votenewbedford.org for more information about VOTE New Bedford.

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