Secretary of State Natalie E. Tennant is joining with the nonprofit, nonpartisan group Inspire WV to encourage West Virginia’s high school students to apply to become a student leader during the organization’s recruitment phase for the 2016-2017 year.
Inspire WV is a statewide branch of the national nonpartisan nonprofit, Inspire US, whose mission is to transform young leaders’ inspiration into action that improves communities and strengthens democracy. Each year, Inspire WV recruits up to three students from various high schools throughout the state to be “Inspired Leaders.”
Inspire student leaders collaborate with their peers to lead nonpartisan voter registration projects at their high schools and they participate in multiple trainings on the campaign and election process and how to help support participation in the electoral process. Inspire WV submitted voter registration applications for 1,351 eligible student voters from across West Virginia during National Voter Registration Month in September. Voter registration applications for 1,200 of that total came from eligible student voters on National Voter Registration Day – Sept. 22, 2015.
With the upcoming 2016 elections, Tennant is eager to see young West Virginians exercise their civic duty. “I am proud of the hard work of Inspire West Virginia and all of their student leaders who make a difference in schools across our great state, said Tennant. “I hope that eligible students across West Virginia will consider applying to be an ambassador.”
“Inspire has helped me further expand and explore my love for politics, and it has given me many opportunities to work with many awesome people around the state toward bettering lives and changing policy,” said Madison Boothe, Inspire Leader at Ravenswood High School.
Applicants should be full-time students who will be juniors or seniors during the 2016-2017 academic year. They should have a GPA of 2.5 or higher and have demonstrated leadership experience and/or potential.
Interested students should visit http://www.inspireus-wv.org/2016_application to review the application process and fill out an online application. Students can also be nominated by teachers, administrators and counselors that feel the students show a desire and capability for leadership development and civic engagement. The nomination form is available at: http://www.inspireus-wv.org/nomination_form.
The deadline for applications is June 17.
