HISD helps students register to vote

HOUSTON (FOX 26) - Monday afternoon students at Phillis Wheatley High School got the opportunity to register to vote with the Harris County Tax Assessor-Collector and Voter Registrar's Office.

“You know, it’s my first time registering to vote so it sounds like it’s going to be super fun,” high school senior Juan Rosales says.

“Definitely nervous because I mean I don’t understand the process, but I’m starting to understand and I understand the history of voting. So just because I don’t understand it does not mean I should not take opportunity to vote,” says junior Joseph Bailey.

Wheatley principal Joseph Williams says it’s the first time the school's young adults have had the opportunity to register right in the library.

“They always want to tell me something they want even here at at the campus you know, 'Mr. Williams we want to do this, we want that or lunches, we want this, we want that,'" Williams says. "And so I’ve been communicating with them and saying 'hey this is your opportunity to make change even in the world'. So they've been excited. They always have something that they want to share.” 

“Sometimes as new voters, it’s not opportunity that they will go out and seek. And to couple it with their civic engagement and their government experience here with their curriculum is a great way to do this,” says HISD board President Rhonda Skillern-Jones.

When asked what students would like to see on upcoming ballot, several brought up the shooting in Parkland, Florida, and how what happened there affect students right here in Houston.

“Right now with what happened in Florida, gun control is obviously an issue," Juan Rosales says. "I feel like the teachers and staff and all that they should be able to carry guns around. You know, just in case if anything like that pops off again, you can have the teachers or anybody there to protect the students.”

“You know what’s going on in Florida and things like that and gun rules, but it’s basically all about what we do, what we need to do, and we have a wonderful principal here of the high school that’s going to help us get to where we need to be,” says Bailey.

If you are a Houston Independent School District student and you’re eligible to vote and didn’t get the opportunity to do so today, don’t worry, all the schools will have registration tables throughout the week.