Conestoga New Voters Club Earns Governor's Civic Engagement Award

BERWYN, PA – The student-led group at Conestoga High School that recently registered nearly 120 students to vote earned some high honors recently for their civic efforts.

On Nov. 29, members of the 2018 New Voters Club were recognized by Pennsylvania's Acting Secretary of State Robert Torres, State Sen. Andy Dinniman and State Rep. Warren Kampf at a ceremony at the high school, the Tredyffrin/Easttown School District said.

The group was honored after it reached its goal of getting 85 percent of eligible voters in Conestoga High School registered to vote. In total, they registered 118 voters.

>>>RELATED: Student-Led Group Registers 118 Voters At Conestoga HS

As a result of the accomplishments, the club received the Governor’s Civic Engagement Award and Gold Level Award Distinction.

Conestoga was the first high school in the state to receive this prestigious award along with being the first school to submit an application, the district said.

Jahnavi Rao, a Conestoga High School Senior, started 2018 New Voters after the 2016 election and spearheaded its voter registration campaign.

The student-led club is a non-partisan group that works to give a voice to those who were not eligible to vote in 2016, and to empower youth in general, the district said.

With the help of Mrs. Whelan, Mrs. Ciamacca, Dr. Meisinger and Ms. Buckley, 2018 New Voters continued to grow, culminating in a large scale voting drive for those eligible in 2017, according to the district.

At the ceremony, Rao received special recognition and was presented with a Certificate of Achievement from the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania.

In addition, Dinniman and Kampf invited the 2018 New Voters members to be their guests for a visit to the State Capital and will be honoring Rao as the clerk for the day.

Well done and congratulations!

Pictured above in front from left to right are Robert Torres, Acting Secretary of State; Jahnavi Rao, Max Mooney, Pramita Mital, Kelsey Bennett, Avani Gandhi, State Sen. Andy Dinniman, State Rep. Warren Kampf, Leonard Chen, Kent Hjelm,Grace Lanouette, Reese Caldwell, Hadley Webster and Conestoga Principal Dr. Amy Meisinger. In middle from left to right are Tara Hughes, Katherine Hughes, Brianna Courtney, Lagann Nagi, Lindsey Schaefer, Elizabeth Lietdka, Daniel Margolis, Connor Fahey, Alyssa Copeland, Danielle Dittmann, Gabriela Castro, Bryce Bundens, Abigail Francis and Kevin Ryle. In back from left to right are Kathryn Bondi, Corinne Pealer, Ashleigh Lake, Lily Zhou, Michael Malarkey, Javier Montaner, Lauren Diehl, Ian Hay, Mark Hengel, Zachary Simpson, Jessica Furjanic, Michael Hamilton, Anna Kovarick, Christin Ealer and Gwen Charles.

Photo courtesy of Tredyffrin/Easttown School District