Amundsen Students Selected as Election Judges

Amundsen High School seniors Stephanie Figueroa, Magdalen D’Alessio and Elizabeth Adebanjo can’t vote yet, but that won’t stop them from getting involved in the presidential election. 

The three students are among approximately 25 at Amundsen that were selected to be election judges on Nov. 6.

“I wanted to still be involved in politics and let voters to know that teens care what happens,” Figueroa said.

The students endured a four-hour training session and will be at the polls to set up at 5 a.m. on Nov. 6. They’ll work the entire day, guiding people through the voting process and then stay two hours after polls close to pack up.

“It’s a way for us to experience the election and motivate us to register when we can vote,” Adebanjo said.

The three are part of the Mikva Challenge, an organization that creates opportunities for high school students to get involved in the political process. More than 2,000 Chicago juniors and seniors will work at the polls on Election Day. To be selected, the students had to have a 3.0 GPA and U.S. citizenship.

Amundsen has the longest-running Mikva Challenge club, led by teacher Colleen Murray.

The high schoolers also traveled to Iowa and learned about campaigning. During the primary, they canvassed and ran phone banks for the Ron Paul and Newt Gingrich campaigns.

“It was really fun and a whole new experience,” Figueroa said. “Everyone worked with different candidates and got to meet local representatives and aldermen.”

Through the organization, Adebanjo serves on the Mayoral City Youth Commission, where she acts as a student liaison and meets with Mayor Rahm Emanuel.

All three students want to further their involvement with politics through Mikva Challenge and higher education.

And as for who's going to win the election?  

“Anything can happen,” Figueroa said.