Dressing up as the Statue of Liberty is one of the perks of being a Secretary of State Student Ambassador. Layten Robinson, a Callaway High senior, knew it would draw attention to the groups polling tent during a recent Friday night football game.

Robinson, along with eight other Callaway High students, were named Ambassadors by their teachers. This is a great honor according to Ranise Hobbs, a senior, “our teachers nominated us based on our grades and as future leaders.”

The purpose of the Ambassador program is to engage students and the community in registering to vote. Lewis says, “It is also about the importance of people understanding why they should register and why they should vote.” Robinson shared the same sentiments and added, “We increase political efficacy and political involvement within our community.”

Both Hobbs and Lewis are in their second year of the program while Robinson is in his first year as an Ambassador. As they continue to manage the program, they will be hosting student and community polls to gauge local voting sentiments as well as the group’s effectiveness in their goal of educating about voting rights. What the appointed leaders hope to see as the year progresses is a rise in the number of individuals who receive voting education. From that point, they ultimately want to see that education turn into action as more of their peers and community members register to vote.

Hobbs knows this a top-notch program that can provide life skills as she seeks to gain her Certified Nursing Assistant’s certification after graduation. She is already enrolled at West Georgia Technical College, and she says, “This is hands-on learning. We are working in a group and gathering information. We have to think of different activities to get people involved, and we have to execute them. This is an entire school effort and we just kind of head it up.”

The group, which consists of Savannah Addison, Eunbin Bak, Emily Bokoko, Ayden Brooks, Ranise Hobbs, Kierra Jackson, Tyler Lewis, Layten Robinson, and Juliette Stone, attended a kick-off session at Georgia World Congress center earlier this month. Michelle Nation, a Graduation Coach at Callaway High and Advisor to the Student Ambassador’s said, “These are a great group of students who believe in student-led activities. They didn’t wait until they got to Atlanta to meet and start bringing ideas to the table. They were making plans on projects to do throughout the entire school year because they were eager to get started.”

While they don’t see Lady Liberty making an appearance at each polling session, they were happy with the kick-off poll that asked participants one simple question: Are you a registered voter? The results, Robinson says, were very surprising. “Only 54 percent of the individuals polled that day were registered voters. We want to see that number increase by the time they offer the final poll in the spring.”

Until then, the Ambassadors say they will have regular polls via Twitter, Facebook, and at various community and student activities to help build the number of registered voters in Troup County.