YPEP has been making forays in classrooms across New Haven these past couple of weeks, and on an impressive scale. So far, YPEP members have given 20 in-class presentations and held 6 lunch meetings and 2 political action club meetings.

YPEP is currently working with 3 schools: Wilbur Cross HS, Hillhouse HS, and Metro Business Academy. At Hillhouse we’ll likely be working on issues relating to the financial crisis and state and local budgets. At Wilbur Cross we’ll be working on issues of comelessness, college loans and scholarships, sexual education in high schools, and environmental efficiency in high schools. Metro Business will likely hold its first PAC meeting in the next couple of weeks.

Political action clubs are the central component of YPEP. These clubs will meet once a week with a group of high school kids interested in working on political issues in their community. The clubs are focused on helping students educating students on these issues, showing them how to get involved with them, and teaching them the skills they need to do so successfully. Through workshops and political discussions, students will learn to engage their communities on political issues.

The Youth Political Engagement Project works to get New Haven public school students interested in politics by educating them about relevant topics and showing them how these issues affect them directly. YPEP is a nonpartisan project of the Yale College Democrats in partnership with the Yale College Republicans.

Contact Rachel Gants if you are interested in participating.