A civics education project from Chicago is coming to Benton Harbor and St. Joseph this weekend.
25 students representing high schools from across Chicago will travel with the Mikva Challenge to the area. They’ll spend two days learning about local elections and getting first-hand experience in campaigns in the lead up to the Michigan primary.
Carla Rubalcava with the Mikva Challenge tells us the group teamed up with the Michigan League of Conservation Voters to find local candidates.
“They’re getting an opportunity to partner with some community organizations in Benton Harbor to think about and learn about how door knocking and canvassing work, and then some opportunities to talk with Berrien County commissioners, city officials from St. Joe, some state representatives, and to really have a firsthand experience learning about how you go out and talk to community members and make our democracy happen,” Rubalcava said.
Organizers of the trip tell us it’s an opportunity to take the students and their teachers outside of their own area to learn more about what democracy looks like elsewhere around the country.
Rubalcava says the Mikva Challenge was started by former federal judge Abner Mikva to help prepare young people to be community leaders.
The students coming to southwest Michigan this weekend will spend Saturday campaigning for local candidates through phone banking and canvassing. On Sunday, they’ll join local elected officials for a breakfast hosted by the Michigan League of Conservation Voters .
The Mikva Challenge says of the students who complete the program, 77% volunteer in their community and 90% voted in the last presidential election.
