ELECTION DAY is right around the corner, and The Civic Circle is taking full advantage of this teachable moment! Please join us on Saturday, October 26 from 4 p.m. to 6 p.m. for a student-led Democracy Concert to celebrate voting in poetry, song and movement! This family-friendly event will take place at Busboys & Poets in Takoma Park. We’ll celebrate voting with original civic art pieces by students at Montgomery Blair High School and Silver Spring International Middle School, and performances by poet Malachi Byrd and singers Nick Newlin and Munit Mesfin. Student apprentices at Arts on the Block are also designing a backdrop that celebrates voting through the visual arts.
Tickets are free, but space is limited, so please reserve HERE today! For sponsorship opportunities, please click HERE! To volunteer or learn more, please email info@theciviccircle.org. We thank the Takoma Foundation and the Maryland State Arts Council for making this event possible!
VOTING WILL ALSO be front and center in Civic Circle workshops this fall. Students at Weller Road and Wheaton Woods Elementary Schools will learn about voting through Social Studies activities and songwriting as part of our after-school workshops through Excel Beyond the Bell. They’ll learn who’s on the ballot, how to register and select candidates, and most importantly why voting matters, in civic arts workshops led by teaching artists Munit Mesfin and Gabrielle Zwi. We’ll also be doing workshops with students at Blair High School and Silver Spring International Middle School in preparation for our Democracy Concert, and we’ll celebrate Hispanic Heritage Month with students who attend Arcola Elementary School. We thank Liberty’s Promise and Montgomery Housing Partnership for collaborating with us on programs at Blair and Arcola.
OUR PROGRAM CONTINUES to grow, and we are extremely fortunate to welcome three new team members who have started years of service with The Civic Circle. Conner Barron joins us as a Program Development Specialist, an AmeriCorps VISTA position sponsored by Transform Mid-Atlantic. A former intern with the Smithsonian Institution, Conner has a B.A. from Columbia University, where he was coordinator for volunteer development and outreach at the Double Discovery Center.
Cam Kelly and Meleny Arias-Ramos sign on as Youth Activity Coordinators, both Maryland Service Corps positions sponsored by the state’s Department of Service and Civic Innovation. Cam is a graduate of Albert Einstein High School, and has experience in theater, the arts, and summer camp counseling. Meleny is a graduate of Montgomery Blair High School, and is an athlete and lifeguard studying Exercise Science at Montgomery College. We also welcome two new interns to our team: Shama Georges, who is helping with social media, and Allen Genephat, who is handling web development. Finally, we are pleased to announce that Teaching Artist Rio Liu, formerly our Program Associate, will be taking on an expanded role as our part-time Program Manager.