Rally the VOTE - Voices Of Teens Emerging!
will take place on Saturday, September 20, from 10:00 a.m. to 2:00 p.m. at Meymandi Hall (Progress Energy Center for the Performing Arts) in downtown Raleigh. Register your group today! Groups of high school teens must register prior to the event, and the event is filling up fast.
North Carolina gubernatorial candidates Charlotte Mayor Pat McCrory and Lieutenant Governor Beverly Perdue have been invited to address teens at Rally the VOTE, sharing their thoughts on why they entered public service and why teens should get and stay involved in the electoral and governmental process.
High school teens who are part of youth organizations such as: YMCAs, 4-Hs, Girl Scouts, Boy Scouts, Boys and Girls Clubs, El Pueblo youth, social studies classes, etc., are invited to attend Rally the VOTE in groups with an adult chaperone. A 'meet-and-greet' continental breakfast will give teens the opportunity to meet other teens from all around the state, and a Girl Scout cookie break is planned for the early afternoon. The event runs from 10:30 a.m. to 2:00 p.m. Check-in opens at 10:00 a.m.
Jessica Jacobs, former Miss North Carolina and founder of the
"Read to Me" literacy program, will serve as Mistress of Ceremonies for the four-hour event. Jacobs, a former Girl Scout Daisy and Brownie, grew up in High Point, completed her undergraduate degree at UNC-Chapel Hill's School of Journalism and is currently a graduate student of organizational communication at NC State University where she is a full-time tuition scholar and public speaking instructor.
Damon Circosta, policy director for the NC Center for Voter Education, will be taking a fun and historical look at North Carolina's state government - and making us understand what it is we're voting on. The NC Center for Voter Education is a Raleigh-based nonpartisan, nonprofit organization dedicated to improving elections in North Carolina.
Jenn Frye, with Democracy NC, will help teach teens about voter registration and how tohelp friends, family members, and others find out if they're registered to vote and if they're not, help them to get registered in time for the October 10 deadline. Democracy NC is a nonpartisan organization committed to expanding voter participation by developing local and statewide networks of informed citizens to defend pro-democracy policies. Democracy NC's ultimate goal is a more vital democracy that fulfills the promise of "one person, one vote."
Even teens who can not yet vote will learn how they can get involved in the political process and encourage others to vote through the 'I Promised a Teen I'd Vote' voter turnout drive. Teens will learn the effect that staying home can have on an election and learn strategies to help encourage friends and family members to take advantage of their precious right to vote.
The Raleigh-based acoustic rock band Old Avenue will be performing throughout the day, and the morning session will feature a patriotic salute by the Shaw University Gospel Choir.
Event sponsors to date include Embarq, IBM, Progress Energy, The Cole Foundation, First Citizens Bank, Z. Smith Reynolds Foundation, Omega Property Group, Tom and Mary Mac Bradshaw, Capstrat, Coastal Federal Credit Union, Rotary Club of Raleigh, Smith Anderson, the Broyhill Family Foundation, Johnston County Community Foundation, O'Brien/Atkins, RBC Bank, North Carolina Mutual Life Insurance Company, North Carolina Mutual, Time Warner Cable, US Food Service, Triangle Business Journal, and News & Observer.
