Recognizing and congratulating the members of the Roxborough High School Student Voices Program, and the coordinator of the program, Michael Horwits, for winning top overall honors, earning the Grand Prize for Best Overall Project, in the Philadelphia Student Voices Civics Fair.

WHEREAS, On May 28, 2003, Philadelphia high school students from sixteen schools gathered at the University of Pennsylvania for the Philadelphia Student Voices Civics Fair as part of the Annenberg Public Policy Center of the University of Pennsylvania’s National Student Voices Project; and

WHEREAS, The Student Voices Project encourages the civic engagement of young people by bringing the study of local government, policy issues, and political campaigns into the classroom. Working with school districts throughout the country, the Student Voices Project makes the study of government relevant and exciting for high school students by helping them examine how issues they consider important are played out in their own governments and local election campaigns; and

WHEREAS, The Student Voices Project is intended to increase students’ knowledge and understanding of political processes and institutions, as well as their ability to find information and make use of it to participate in the public sphere; and

WHEREAS, With the leadership and guidance of Michael Horwits, Roxborough students won top overall honors, earning the Grand Prize for Best Overall Project, by focusing on increasing the civic engagement of their community by holding a candidate forum for at-large City Council candidates; conducting an exit poll at local polling places on Election Day; producing and distributing a non-partisan voters’ guide; and discussing the issues of most concern to them with candidates who visited their classroom; now therefore

RESOLVED, BY THE COUNCIL OF THE CITY OF PHILADELPHIA, We hereby recognize and congratulate the members of the Roxborough High School Student Voices Program, and the coordinator of the program, Michael Horwits, for winning top overall honors, earning the Grand Prize for Best Overall Project, in the Philadelphia Student Voices Civics Fair.

FURTHER RESOLVED, That an Engrossed copy of this resolution be presented to Michael Horwits and the members of the Roxborough High School Student Voices Program as evidence of the sincere sentiments of this legislative body.

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