Civic engagement is being nurtured in the Compton Unified School District, as students rally to celebrate the power of growth and change — and the important role that each one plays in building a bright future for all.

Alex Padilla, California Secretary of State, recently attended an assembly with students at Dominguez High School in Compton, in an effort to encourage all students to understand the importance of voting and pre-registration, and to support students who have reached legal voting age to register and vote during the November 6 midterm elections. Also present at the assembly were State Senator Steven Bradford, CUSD Board Clerk Margie Garrett and from the Los Angeles Rams organization, former NFL player Jonathan Franklin.

“It was an immense pleasure to address the scholars at Dominguez High School today and to see their sincere interest in civic matters,” said CUSD Board President, Micah Ali. “I am grateful for the honorable champion for human rights, Secretary of State Alex Padilla, coming out and sharing his passion for the democratic process as well. The message of today came through loud and clear: the two most powerful steps you can take toward true, lasting change are to register to vote, then do.”

Students were heartened by Secretary Padilla highlighting the vital role young people can play in shaping the nation’s future through civic participation. “… Young adults have a voice and we need to use it. So, pre-registration is one step forward of making America better,” said Brando, a student from Dominguez High School.

Students were heartened by Secretary Padilla highlighting the vital role young people can play in shaping the nation’s future through civic participation. “… Young adults have a voice and we need to use it. So, pre-registration is one step forward of making America better,” said Brando, a student from Dominguez High School.

Students turning 18 on or before November 6 had the opportunity to register and vote for the first time. Principal Blain Watson of Dominguez High School said, “It is important to pre-register and vote because our youth are the leaders of tomorrow and they’re going to be people making decisions at the local, state and federal level; and if they don’t start getting involved now it’s going to be too late when they are in their 30s and all types of policies have been decided, all types of opportunities will be closed, especially for the population that we are.”

Secretary Padilla launched a High School Civic Engagement Portal, HighSchool.sos.gov, so that all California high school students can more readily learn more about pre-registration, find out how to be a student poll worker, get resources to host a Student Mock Election on their campus, and learn how to organize voter registration drives on their campuses during High School Voter Education Weeks.

High School Voter Education Weeks are designated by the California Education Code to occur during the last two full weeks in April and September and provide an opportunity for high schools and their students to partner with elections officials to promote civic education and participation on campus. The goal is to foster an environment that cultivates lifelong voters and active citizens.

A related effort at Dominguez High was its hosting a Los Angeles County Registrar-Recorder student precinct poll worker training, which trained Dominguez students on how to be poll-workers.

This was the second year that Dominguez High School did a poll center training for students through the L.A. County Registrar Office — last year over 70 kids were trained. “I’m very proud that our kids were chosen and they did it again this year. I think we had well over 100 kids that entered the training at Dominguez High School and that speaks to the need of evolvement of this generation and the passion that these kids have,” said Principal Watson.

"The democratic process is well and alive within (the) Compton Unified School District as was evident by Dominguez High School’s participation in High School Voter Education Week. Civic engagement and participation is alive and well in CUSD,” said Superintendent Darin Brawley.

Secretary Padilla left students with an important call-to-action, “Your voice is your vote.” Thank you, Secretary Padilla, for choosing the Dominguez High School community and supporting what we call #TheDonWay.