HARRISBURG, PA — Pennsylvania recognized 35 high schools on Wednesday for student-led voter registration efforts that helped register approximately 8,000 eligible students during the 2025-26 school year, highlighting a growing statewide push to increase civic participation among young voters.
Secretary of the Commonwealth Al Schmidt announced the recipients of the Governor’s Civic Engagement Awards, which honor schools that successfully register eligible classmates to vote and encourage participation in the electoral process. Twenty-one schools earned Gold Level recognition for registering at least 85% of eligible students, while 14 schools received Silver Level awards for registering between 65% and 84%.
The program reached a milestone this year as Delta High School in Centre County and Union Area Middle/High School in Lawrence County became the first schools in the award program’s nearly decade-long history to register 100% of their eligible students.
According to the Department of State, roughly 2,000 students from public, private, and charter schools across 21 counties participated in efforts that resulted in approximately 8,000 new voter registrations. The awards are jointly presented by the Pennsylvania departments of State and Education.
“These students worked hard to register their eligible classmates to vote, inform them about the electoral process, and hopefully launch them on a lifelong habit of voting,” Schmidt stated during a Capitol press conference. “Students in the GCEA program engage the next generation of voters, which is critical for the continued health of our representative democracy.”
The program also recognized students who served as poll workers during the November 2025 general election. This year, 633 students received recognition for Election Day service, including 572 from Philadelphia schools and 61 from schools in Armstrong, Berks, Bucks, Centre, Chester, Dauphin, Erie, and Fayette counties.
State officials noted that approximately 32% of the student poll workers honored this year were bilingual, helping improve access for voters whose primary language is not English.
Participation in the Governor’s Civic Engagement Awards program continued to expand during the 2025-26 school year. The state reported an increase in participating schools, broader geographic representation, and 165 more recognized student poll workers compared with the previous year.
Pennsylvania Department of Education Secretary Dr. Carrie Rowe said the program helps foster informed citizenship and civic responsibility among students.
Franklin Towne Charter School in Philadelphia, which earned a Gold Level award, was represented at the announcement by student poll workers. Senior Kayla Marshall said serving at the polls provided students with practical experience and civic engagement opportunities while helping address staffing needs in local precincts.
The Governor’s Civic Engagement Awards program began during the 2017-18 school year. Since its launch, Pennsylvania high school students have helped register approximately 33,000 eligible classmates to vote. The complete list of award recipients is available at vote.pa.gov/gcea.
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