Susan Graseck
Senior Fellow, Watson Institute;
Director, Choices for the 21st Century Education Program
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Biography
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Another Choices initiative, called the Capitol
Forum, targets students directly. Each spring, dozens of
high school students from a variety of schools go to their
State legislature
to deliberate about the role they believe the United States
should play in the world, sharing their views with elected
officials and policymakers. And last year, to coincide with
the 2004
elections,
the Capitol Forum reached even further by offering an online
ballot, which gives any student anywhere the opportunity
to voice their opinion on national priorities.
“It’s
the first time we’ve done an online ballot and said come
one and come all,” Graseck responds when asked why they
decided conduct the survey. “It’s about inclusiveness.
Most high school students can’t yet vote. But that doesn’t
mean they shouldn’t be paying attention to what’s
going on around them. And it certainly doesn’t mean they
can’t think. So we wanted to find a way to give them an
opportunity to think about the issues and have a voice during
the presidential election cycle.” Last week*, a report of
the results was put in the hands of congressional representatives,
and sent to the White House.
In a way, Choices exemplifies so much of what Brown
strives to be. “We exist,” Graseck tells us, “because
we really believe that an American public that doesn’t know
about international issues, and doesn’t care, is a very
real danger to the world.”
So there really is more than laundry
and laptops being loaded into those cars lined up on Charlesfield
Street.
*in January, 2005
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