by Lightmary Flores ‘17
The "Introduction to Social Work" course at Whittier College is bringing a new meaning to political engagement. Through their voter registration Praxis Project, students are able to take initiative in informing potential and existing voters in the local community about the importance of voting. “The class itself covers the range of what we would call micro, meso and macro social work. With this project, students really get to work at each of these levels and specifically at the meso level, by reaching out to organizations and entities in the community,” said Visiting Assistant Professor of Social Work Gretchen Heidemann who teaches the course.
This project was the focal for this course in which the class sought to reach out to vulnerable and disenfranchised populations by partnering with nonprofits and community entities and businesses including The Whittier Health Center, Whittier Adult School, California Grill, Whittier Village Cinemas, and Coffee Bean & Tea Leaf.
Among the roles students took on for this project were the logistics group, the civic engagement group, the social media outreach group, and the presidential candidates group. “People do not really know the implications of voting,” said social work major Mariana Garcia ‘19. “They feel like their voice does not matter but part of what we seek to do is empowering those individuals who face barriers that inhibit them from voting.”
Students applied the professional training they received from the Los Angeles County Registrar when they prepared their voter registration booths at various sites in the Whittier community. Each booth contained research-based informational fliers in both English and Spanish which educated voters about ways in which they can vote, eligibility, and important issues that would be of concern to social work clients including minimum wage, Medicare, and immigration.
Several students from the civic engagement group visited the Whittier Health Center, one of the locations of the voting registration booths, where they who would ask passing visitors about their voter registration status. “I feel that our one of thing that we learn is the teaching-learning process by not only bringing awareness to the community but to learn about our own beliefs in our own lives,” said Jasmine Perkovic ‘19. “We have heard first-hand from individuals about some of the barriers they face. It is a challenge when we encounter individuals who reveal that they face social and economic barriers such as parole status, immigration status among others.”
Malory Henry ’19 reflected on some of the tactics she uses when interacting with potential voters. “Political engagement is one of the big ways individuals who may be from lower socio-economic statuses can voice their concerns and our informational fliers really help inform people,” Henry said. “We are nonpartisan and so we try not to be biased we instead talk about key issues such as Medicare and college tuition. I’ve learned the importance of reading people’s body language and seeing who to ask who not to ask.”
The "Introduction to Social Work" class has been successful in attracting 50 potential voters with and that number is still growing. “This is one of the most important ways people can make their voices heard,” said Heidemann. “This effort is valuable within itself and seeing students making this effort is really meaningful.”
