Jackson High students take on pivotal role as poll workers in Tuesday election

Students in Jackson High School social studies teacher Camilla Sisk’s advanced placement (AP) government class will play an important role in the general election Tuesday, Nov. 5.

Sisk’s students will serve as poll workers throughout the day as part of their curriculum-required applied civics project.

The AP government class returned for the 2024-25 school year after being taught for just one year in 2020. Being a presidential election year, Sisk thought having her students work the polls would help “give them opportunities to learn and grow into strong citizens” who “take that civic participation seriously as adults.”

“When you go to the polls and you see the workers, a lot of them are older workers that aren't going to be working forever in the polls,” Sisk said. “You don't see a lot of younger election workers, and, at some point, I would really like to see the younger generations be able to take on that civic participation, take that responsibility seriously and be able to help their community.”

Sisk said she has 20 students in the class and each of them volunteered to help at the polls.

“All of them are able to work. (Cape Girardeau County Clerk) Kara (Clark Summers) had enough positions, so they volunteered for the polling locations that they wanted to work,” Sisk said. “They'll work a two-and-a-half-hour shift out of their school day so that they can see how it works.”

Sisk said Summers was instrumental in preparing the students for their roles, and even took time out of her schedule last week to show students how the system worked at her office in Jackson. Some of her students even cast their first-ever vote during the early voting period while they were there.

“They got to see the whole process,” Sisk said.

Some of the AP government students decided two-and-a-half hours wasn’t enough and volunteered to work from 7 a.m. through “lunchtime”.

“They wanted to have even more time to be able to serve in this role, and they were so excited to be able to do that,” Sisk said.

Sisk said her students' excitement is inspiring.

"This is my first year teaching AP government, so I came in kind of not knowing what to expect," she said. "To see their enthusiasm gives me even more excitement and enthusiasm about my job and creating even more opportunities for them to be able to learn, grow and serve their own communities.”