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October 28, 2026
As a new generation prepares to vote, educators have a powerful opportunity to build civic knowledge and help students become informed, engaged citizens. Learn about free resources available through Rock the Vote’s Democracy Class, a free curriculum that teaches students about the history of voting rights, voter registration, local elections, voter turnout and the policies that shape access to the ballot.
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Every generation of voters starts somewhere.
Right now, members of Gen Z are turning 18 and becoming eligible to vote. And in 2028, millions of today’s students will be eligible to cast a presidential ballot for the first time.
Those future voters are already sitting in classrooms across the country.
That reality makes the 2026 midterm elections an especially meaningful opportunity for educators. Elections aren’t just something that happens every four years—or something students begin learning about once they’re old enough to register to vote. Elections shape the communities students live in, the states they call home, and the country they will help lead.
Whether a student is eligible to vote today or still has years to go, building civic knowledge now can help prepare them to become informed, engaged participants in our democracy.
Civic education helps students understand how elections, voting and our government affect their lives and communities. Our earliest public schools were built on an important idea: a self-governing nation needs an educated and engaged citizenry—not just a skilled workforce.
My colleagues at Rock the Vote and I believe that mission is just as important today.
That’s why I’m excited about the relaunch of Democracy Class, Rock the Vote’s free, nonpartisan curriculum that introduces students to the fundamentals of elections, voting, civic participation and informed decision-making through lessons designed to fit naturally into the classroom.
The goal is simple: give students the knowledge and tools they need to understand how democracy works and, ultimately, participate in it. And this work becomes even more powerful when students can connect what they’re learning to the world around them.
The history of voting rights is often presented as a story of steady progress: one amendment after another expanding the right to vote. But the full story is more complicated.
In Democracy Class Lesson 1: The History of Voting, students explore the evolution of voting rights in the United States while examining the resistance, barriers and struggles that have accompanied the expansion of those rights.
The goal is simple: give students the knowledge and tools they need to understand how democracy works and, ultimately, participate in it.
One of my personal favorite activities is the human timeline. Instead of simply memorizing amendments, students physically explore the broader history of voting rights—including the many ways voting laws can change and the people and movements that have pushed those changes forward.
The activity helps students see that the expansion of voting rights in the United States hasn’t always been smooth, and it hasn’t always been easy. Throughout our history—and in the present day—Americans have fought to expand access to the ballot and protect the right to vote.
That history gives students an important foundation for understanding the elections and voting policies they encounter today.
One question we can ask students is deceptively simple: Who participates in local elections?
The answer can tell us a lot about whose voices are represented in election results.
In Democracy Class Lesson 2: Not Just Every Four Years, students can now explore that question using Rock the Vote’s new Who Decides? tool. The tool allows students to compare voter turnout among people ages 18–29 and people ages 30+ in cities across the country.
That comparison opens the door to a much bigger conversation.
Local elections affect things students encounter every day—from schools and transportation to housing and other local services. By examining who is and isn’t showing up to vote, students can think critically about how differences in turnout, including differences among young voters, can shape who has a voice in local decision-making.
For me, that’s what makes civic education so meaningful. It’s not just about memorizing how elections work. It’s about helping students see the connection between participation and the decisions that affect their everyday lives.
Through Democracy Class, students can also explore another important question: How do voting policies affect young people’s access to the ballot box across the country?
Democracy Class Lesson 2: Not Just Every Four Years now incorporates Rock the Vote’s State Voting Rights Snapshots, a new tool designed to make complex election policies easier for students to understand and connect to their own lives.
Rock the Vote partnered with the Movement Advancement Project (MAP) to track state-level election policies that shape young people’s ability to cast a ballot. Using MAP’s data, these policies have been translated into easy-to-understand, state-by-state snapshots that categorize states as Leaders, Slackers or Blockers of youth voting rights.
For teachers and students, the snapshots provide a starting point for exploring how election policies can influence young people’s experiences with voting. They also give students an opportunity to connect the policies they’re studying with the real-world process of participating in our democracy.
I believe one of the most important things we can do for the next generation is give them the opportunity to understand democracy before they’re asked to participate in it.
The students sitting in classrooms today will become tomorrow’s voters, community leaders, advocates and engaged citizens. Some will vote for the first time this year. Others won’t cast their first ballot for several more years. But all of them can begin learning now.
That’s why I believe civic education belongs in every school. By giving students opportunities to explore elections, voting, participation and informed decision-making, we can help equip them with the knowledge they need to understand—and take part in—the democratic process.
The future of our democracy is already sitting in our classrooms. Let’s make sure students have the knowledge they need to participate when their time comes.
All of the resources described above are now available as part of Democracy Class, making it easy to bring civic learning into your classroom or community.
You can download the materials on Share My Lesson or sign up as a partner on the Rock the Vote website. As part of the 2026 Democracy Class Coalition, we’ll send you everything you need to bring Democracy Class to the students and communities you serve.
Thank you for helping prepare the next generation to become informed, engaged participants in our democracy.
Explore our election resources to engage your students in learning about the election process and its significance at every level. Discover lessons on election fundamentals, laws, security, current events, youth involvement, and historic U.S. elections.
This collection of voting rights lesson plans helps educators teach the history, laws, and civic principles that shape voting in the United States.
