App Launched To Boost Student Interest in Congress
The Student Governmental Affairs
Program (SGAP), which provides high school
government teachers with materials about current events, is launching a
mobile
app for students.
SGAP
is
a nonprofit arm of National Write
Your Congressman, which gives teachers
free, nonpartisan classroom materials on issues and bills that the United States
Congress is considering. Among the materials it provides are a monthly
newsletter that students can discuss in class, information that teachers
can
use to stimulate further discussion and a polling process they can use
to gauge
their students' positions on issues in relation to others in the
country.
The
SGAP
app, which will be downloadable from either the Apple App Store or
Google
Play Store, will feature:
- A
discussion
board that the 200,000 students across the country involved with the
program can
use to engage in conversation with each other on political issues;
- A
My Reps
tool that will give students both information about the political
positions
of their elected representatives as well as a way to communicate with
them; and
- A
Tasks and
Achievements feature that will give students points for completing
tasks like
writing to members of Congress or local elected officials, taking
polls,
participating in online discussions or attending meetings of local
city
councils or state legislatures.
The
app
will also allow teachers to track students' activities on the app and
potentially reward them for civic participation.
Randy
Ford,
president and co-founder of SGAP, said, "We believe the app will elevate
the student experience by encouraging them to connect with other SGAP
students,
learn more about the political process and make a difference in their
communities."
About the Author
Michael Hart is a Los Angeles-based freelance writer and the former executive editor of THE Journal.