Civics Challenge #3: Know Your Leaders

After I moved to Tennessee a few years ago, someone who knew I had a background in politics asked me a question about the governor. I don’t remember exactly what was said, but I embarrassingly had to admit that I didn’t know who the governor was or anything about their policies. I vowed to never let that happen again. Sure, I was new to the state so the person didn’t hold it against me, but I should have made it a point to look up that info when I found out we were moving. I should have educated myself. For various reasons, whether we’re new to our state, or a long-time resident, we owe it to ourselves to be educated on who represents us both on a national and a local level. Those leaders are the people making decisions that affect our lives, after all.

So, if you’re following along with our challenges this year to become more civic-minded, here’s your third challenge. You can find Challenge #1 and Challenge #2 here.

Challenge #3: Find Out Who Represents You

For starters, know your governor and your own representatives in the U.S. House and Senate. I’m going to assume that everyone already knows the president. 😉 Once you know the main key players, you can move on down the line. Do you know who represents you in your state legislature and state senate? What’s your mayor’s name? Who represents you on your city council? Do you have any idea who’s on your local school board? Find out! Every state, county, and city have their own websites. You can find them by doing a simple google search. Once you’re on your state’s site, you’ll see a link to the various branches of government. Heading over to the legislative branch will usually bring up a section where you can type in your address to find out who represents you on the local level.

This challenge is important for many reasons. When you know who is representing you in your state, city, county and country, you’ll be more invested in knowing what they’re working on that affects your life. Another advantageous reason is knowing these people, what they stand for, and what they’ve done to help (or hinder) you, makes election day all the easier.

Putting it to Action

Choose at least one of the following to work on this week:

Option 1: Plan a family night where you learn who your elected officials are. Make a game of it. Find pictures of each rep and talk about not only who they are, but what they do. Throughout the coming weeks, bring them up in conversation. If you hear their name in the news, make a point to talk about it with your family.

Option 2: Simply spend a few minutes every week browsing your state’s website. Get familiar with your governor. What’s their background? What issues are important to them? Move on to Congress, your mayor, state reps, etc.

Option 3: If you’re feeling really ambitious, set up a meeting with your state legislator or senator. Sure, there are only 535 total members of Congress, but there are over 8000 state legislators throughout our country. Most of them live in their districts when your state legislature isn’t in session. Not only do they live near you but they are super accessible. If you’re too shy to meet them one on one, put a group together. Once you’ve done that, attend a City Council meeting. Take your kids and point out who your councilman/woman is. Stick around afterward and introduce yourself. Planning a trip to D.C.? Many Congressional offices offer a meet and greet with constituents once a week where you can meet your rep or senator and even get your picture taken with them. Bonus, they may even take you on a tour of the Capitol afterward!