 Hello and welcome to town meeting TV. My name is Bobby Luciae and I'm your host for the program today We're joined in the studio by Robin Palmer who is the new education and civic engagement coordinator at the Secretary of State's office This is a new position established by the Secretary of State Sarah Copeland Hansis part of an effort to advance civic education across the state Robin, thank you so much for joining us. Thanks for having me. Awesome. So Education and civic engagement coordinator, what does that mean? What kind of work are you going to be doing? Well, we have three major initiatives as sort of that we're part of the creation of the position. So the first one is focusing on K to 12 education That could look like a lot of different things So first part of what I'm going to do is create a teacher advisory group to help us understand You know, we want to highlight the good work that's already being done and share resources But also identify any gaps that may exist and see where we can play a role in helping to fill them Yeah, and I think You know, there's we definitely see a space where we'll probably be doing some like a town meeting day Lesson or doing some resources for the state house Field trips and things like that, but really that group is going to help guide That direction and that's a group of teachers. Yeah teachers from around the state, which we are currently recruiting for so Yeah, that will be a that will be really exciting and it might be end up being two subgroups based on the different age age groups Okay, and then another big project is going to be creating a voter guide for the 2024 election. So You know civic engagement in schools is important But we also want to be able to provide education to the larger population and creating a voter guide that will make Voting easier is a big priority and have you know informed voting make that easier And then the third project is more broad community outreach and that's very much still taking shape, but I think You know the the thing that the secretary that secretary Copeland Hansis has said over and over is that her sort of mantra is Democracy is about working together to solve problems as a group that we can't solve Individually and so I think getting that message out to the community and whatever shape that might be is a big part of what our Community engagement like our broader initiatives will be and as partners Present themselves, then we'll be exploring all those options. That sounds like really really great work. I'm jealous So Robin, how did you get into this position? What were you doing before because this is a new position, right? Yeah, it's a new position a few weeks ago, and it's new to me. I'm Rounding out the end of my first month here. This is week four. So For the last ten years or almost ten years I had been running an AmeriCorps VISTA program out of the Vermont Agency of Human Services. So Civic engagement from another angle really focusing on like the volunteerism piece and community service Prior to that I have my background like academically was in higher ed administration, and I was You know focused on service learning and civic engagement from that perspective, but my very first job I graduated from Temple University in Philadelphia and my very first job out of undergrad was Helping to coordinate educator programs at the National Constitution Center. And so that felt like kind of just like The first thing that came up after school, but now it feels really like full circle relevant Yeah, and it's fun to be coming back and you know familiarizing myself with some of those organizations and groups and things Right. Yeah, and there's this thread of civic education in your and all your work. That's really cool So I mentioned this is a new position Why was your position established? Is there a specific problem or set of problems that you're hoping to address through through your work? Yeah, you know the secretary Was a legislator for many years before running and then I think through that work and also well out on the campaign trail she just sort of kept running into people who Didn't know how to vote or didn't see themselves as voters. She tells this great story of running into a Student who said oh well My family is not a voting family and like the way they said it was like it was really part of their identity and You know in a lot of ways Vermont Does well and like the national Rankings and things like that for voter engagement, but I think she really saw this need to Reach all over monitors not just the ones helping boost our our numbers and help shift those mindsets so like when you run into people like understanding why aren't they a family of voters and is that because there's some trepidation around the mechanics and they don't really know how is it that they don't feel like their vote will matter or is it that There's not a candidate that feels inspiring to them or issue that they're passionate about so Kind of looking at it from a really broad perspective. I think she saw a lot of need Yeah, yeah, it's I mean you mentioned already some of those Potential barriers to voting and becoming again not just voting but being engaged in The civic process the democratic process Are there any of those that the secretary or you are particularly kind of honing in on or or Recognize as some of the key barriers that Vermonters are really facing and participating in the democratic process Yeah, I mean I think I guess maybe I got ahead of myself there on that answer a little bit But I think those are it you know, it might be education. It might be Interest level or it might be trust that their participation is gonna make a difference. They're sort of a wide variety there, so that'll be fun to tackle, but I think I'm gonna look at my notes for this one because it just it was a headline in the news yesterday the Washington Post wrote an article and the headline was Students understanding of history and civics is worsening and it was a it said that only 22% of 8th graders nationwide tested proficient in civics in the most recent studies, so that just came out yesterday Obviously some of that could be COVID related they've seen that with a lot of standardized testing but I think You know, there's sort of the Reaching young people before they become voters feels very important And so seeing scores like that and kind of knowing that there's been less of an emphasis on civics in schools Feels important to get ahead of and also just like let's make it easy for teachers who have a lot on their plate You know, we want it to be approachable and accessible but then also just Not just focusing on students, but the broader community, too Yeah I saw that article and that that report and it was alarming and I also and I saw it and then my colleague Lauren Glenn Davidian sent it to me and I said that's I'm so glad that we're having Robin in To talk about this I mean, I wasn't glad to see the results, but it was nice to have something concrete to mention So the timing work. Yeah, it was it was pretty alarming And I want to jump because you mentioned that part of your job is focused on developing a statewide civics curriculum and I Think a part of that is making civics and to an extent bureaucracy and the democratic process Interesting and meaningful young people and young students. So how do you think about that? How do you think about making that that process interesting and and engaging? Yeah Well, one thing just to clarify is we aren't going to be doing like a mandated statewide curriculum It's very much going to be resources and Hoping to make things like I was saying accessible make it easy make it affordable, you know, there's really cool projects Nationally if you Google civic education, but it's like can you afford transportation to get your class to DC? Can you you know like all of these things? So what can we do here in Vermont to help fill those gaps in a way? That's That's affordable, but we aren't like necessarily saying that we're going to present a full Curriculum just to clarify. Yes, but I think sources that and there may be some pieces in there, but You know, I think the way you make it interesting is just really trying to make it relevant and to to the lives of kids and like what do they care about and Helping them realize they have a voice. I've it's you know, I've been in this role like I said for just about a month And there's been different youths activism days on the State House lawn and you know, so it in some ways you're like, okay things are good there are still there's still a lot of youth engagement but making that available to everyone not just people who are in districts that can afford the bus To Montpelier for the day or have a teacher that's super passionate about it and willing to spend all that extra time But like just you know making it available more broadly and I think focusing on problem-solving like seeing democracy as a tool for problem-solving and not as bureaucracy yeah, yeah, I think obviously there's there's some of that but you know, I'm sure there's Examples we can point to of You know the long slog being worth it too Yeah, and so trying to find those highlight those and just make people understand that their voice can Be heard. Yeah. Yeah, I love that making democracy a tool for problem-solving. That's that's really great It's such a wide-ranging Job that you're that you're working on Who do you anticipate will be some of the key partners that you're working with you mentioned teachers? Who else do you do you think will play a key role in your work? Yeah, it's been kind of remarkable all of the the meetings I've had so far and like the broad array of folks that I've talked to but you know one morning I talked to the Vermont Association for Social Studies and then Talked to the Vermont Historical Society. So some of those people that are already engaged in the K to 12 area We're hoping to always continue our partnership with the Vermont Humanities and the Center for Cartoon Studies the previous Secretary of State put together the freedom and unity Comic, which we're you know really still excited about and get a lot of interest in so the thinking of ways we can grow that You know, I know the Vermont Community Foundation has a newly stated Priority area around democracy and community leadership. So we're excited to see the work that they do with that and then I think you know, the other big one is Trying to partner with organizations who might be working with more underrepresented folks. So that might be the Department of Corrections or folks working with populations that are currently experiencing homelessness just really trying to Be accessible and work to solve a problem with folks who are working with those groups Yeah, awesome. That is that is an all-star lineup of partners It's a fun. It's been a pretty fun job. Yeah, so far. That's really great. Yeah, your work is so important, especially right now You know, we're seeing that democracy and democratic systems are sort of in the news more than they are then they then they have been in the past Does the Secretary of State's office see democracy itself as being under threat in Vermont right now You know, I think she would say that yes I think she does I think that's part of why this position was created and and frankly why she wanted to run in the first place You know, there's a lot of things that Vermont does do well like we as state government like our elected officials You'll see them at the grocery store. You can access Lots of information through public media. You can go sit in the state house and learn what's going on But paired with the national kind of rhetoric around not trusting the government and everything Being called into question like we want to highlight the ways that Vermont still is different and help people Feel Feel encouraged to participate and you know know that there are modes of participation open still and so I think Not to raise huge alarm bells You know Vermont is doing pretty well in some ways, but I think getting out ahead of it making sure our children are Understanding what they can through civics and schools and you know continuing to build on that is really an important and that's you know Kind of why I'm in this role But also just you know, there's been such kind of an overwhelming Positive response, which I've really appreciated as I've come in the first month, but I think it's not just because People are friendly. It's because people see this as you know People across the state see this as something that's really important and something they want to partner on and really See make a difference. Absolutely. Yeah, there's a huge need and there's a lot of enthusiasm around the work that you're doing including a town meeting TV We're really excited about the the work that you're that you're taking on. So thank you. Thank you for doing it How can people get involved in your work or get in touch with you? Yeah, you know where where where is the avenue for those new partners that you don't know about yet? Yeah, yeah I think the easiest way is probably just to go to our website and there's a contact to the secretary Inbacks and those come to me So like out, you know, I'll see I'll see those and be able to to get back in touch. So that's probably I haven't memorized my my new self At the job, but I think that that's probably the the best way awesome great I think that wraps up our conversation Robin. Thank you so much. Yeah, thanks for having me is the news education and civic engagement coordinator for the Vermont secretary of state's office and Thank you so much for tuning in to town meeting TV where we continue to open the doors of local democracy and connect you and your neighbors with Leaders in your community You can find this program and others on our website CH 17 TV or on our town meeting TV YouTube channel Thank you so much for watching sharing town meeting TV. Have a great day