Secretary of State Mac Warner is proud to announce the first round of West Virginia high schools to qualify as Jennings Randolph Award-winning schools for the 2017-2018 school year.

The Jennings Randolph Award honors high schools that engage their students into participating in the election process. The award is earned by a high school that registers 100 percent of its eligible seniors to vote. Students who will be 18 on or before the November 6th General Election are eligible to vote in 2018.

The first round of Jennings Randolph Award winners included James Monroe High School in Monroe County.

Warner works closely with local county clerks, his Field Representatives, and civic engagement groups like Inspire West Virginia to educate students on the importance of voting. Voter registration drives are student-led with the support of the school’s administration and faculty.

The Jennings Randolph Award was established in 1992 as a way to work with high school civics and history teachers on the importance of voter registration and participation. For the 2016-2017 school year, a record 16 high schools qualified to be Jennings Randolph Award winners. It is very difficult to achieve a 100 percent participation.

There are more than 200 public and private high schools in West Virginia. Over the last year, Warner worked closely with all 55 county clerks on the effort to register eligible students. He directed his five-member Field Team to visit high schools in their regions. The effort also included working closely with groups like Inspire U.S., who has worked on civic engagement with several high schools for the last four years.

Since Warner took office on January 16th, there have been 13,593 eligible high school students registered to vote.

Today, Warner is proud to announce that 19 schools have already qualified for the Jennings Randolph Award for the 2017-2018 school year, with more applications expected to be turned in throughout the school year. The deadline to apply for the Jennings Randolph Award is April 17, 2018. Schools can apply by visiting the West Virginia Secretary of State’s website.

“Our first Jennings Randolph Award winner was Braxton County High School. They got to work fast and encouraged all of their eligible students to register to vote,” Warner said.