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The Red Ledger

The online student news source of Lovejoy High School

The Red Ledger

The online student news source of Lovejoy High School

The Red Ledger

Addressing the ‘generational gap’

Texas Secretary of State visits to speak on voting importance
Texas+Secretary+of+State+Carlos+Cascos+speaks+to+students+on+the+importance+of+voting+during+an+assembly+in+the+auditorium+on+Tuesday%2C+March+29.+++
Matthew Cinquepalmi
Texas Secretary of State Carlos Cascos speaks to students on the importance of voting during an assembly in the auditorium on Tuesday, March 29.

Texas Secretary of State Carlos Cascos made a special appearance at the high school on Tuesday, March 29, to speak to students about the importance of participating in elections.

Cascos travels to all parts of Texas to present to students in hopes of persuading them to vote in the elections. He addressed the students in two assemblies held in the auditorium, speaking first to juniors and seniors, and then to freshmen and sophomores.

“What better audience can I have than going to high schools,” Cascos said. “You have a captive audience. If you can get to ten percent of the students that you talk to then it’s mission accomplished.”

His presentation convinced many students of the importance of participating in the political process.

“Before I didn’t know the purpose of voting or why I should vote,” sophomore Savanna Roulette said. “Now I do and so now I am going to register and vote when I get older.”

Students visit with the Texas Secretary of State after the first of two speeches in the auditorium on Tuesday.
JoJo Bennett
Students visit with the Texas Secretary of State after the first of two speeches in the auditorium on Tuesday.

Cascos chooses to travel to schools across the country because of the decreasing involvement of young Americans.

“I see the fact that we have a generational gap,” Cascos said. “I see a lot of young potential voters that are not voting.”

He said parents who do not vote influence their children to do the same.

“If you see your parents going to vote in every election, it’s gonna create that voting ethic within you,” Cascos said. “If you never see your parent voting, but you read about them, you hear about them, in school they talk about them, and yet your parents never go, there’s a strong likelihood that you’re gonna believe it’s not important, so consequently you don’t go vote.”

Instead of preplanning and reading his points, Cascos says he feels that it’s important to “speak from the heart” and personalize his message to his audience.

“Every audience is different, every high school is different, every individual is different,” Cascos said. “I have a general idea of where I’m gonna go with it, but I really don’t know how I’m gonna get there until I actually assess the audience.”

Cascos said he was happy to get an opportunity to address the student body. He stressed the importance of having a legacy of political participation in a family, noting that parents who are active voters pass on that "voting ethic" to their children.
JoJo Bennett
Cascos said he was happy to get an opportunity to address the student body. He stressed the importance of having a legacy of political participation in a family, noting that parents who are active voters pass on that “voting ethic” to their children.

Cascos said it was important not to read a speech, so that his message seems real and captivates those who hear him speak.

“I think people can sometimes tell if it’s a canned program, if it’s a canned speech, if it’s a canned presentation, because it sounds phony,” Cascos said. “I’d rather go out there and just say what I mean.”

Sophomore Kiersten Burno said Cascos’ credibility and accomplishments helped his message resonate with his audience.

“I know I can trust him and I can fully listen and develop my information with him because he is the Secretary of State,” Burno said. “He is a reliable source and I can trust the information, so if he tells me I should vote, I think that he is someone I should listen to because of his past experiences.”

Despite the small size of the community, Cascos chose to speak and convince students of their importance in the democratic process.

“I was speaking at an event, probably in Austin, and one of the comments I made was what I wanted to do in terms of reaching out to young voters, first-time voters, high school students, college campuses, and I also said there was no community too small for me not to visit, so here I am,” Cascos said. “They called and I came.”

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About the Contributors
Mandy Halbert, Staff Reporter
Mandy is a senior this year, but she’s still just as afraid of high school hallways as she was as a freshman. But aside from that, she looks forward to all that comes with her last year. When she’s not stressed about applying to college, AP and dual credit classes, and All Region band tryouts, Mandy enjoys singing along to Shawn Mendes songs in her car, volunteering with her church, and being a part of the marching band. Despite all of the school-related chaos, she works to show her faith in Jesus in all that she does. She is excited to start her second and final year on The Red Ledger, and she can't wait to see all of the amazing things that are yet to come.
Katie Felton, TRL Reporter
Senior Katie Felton, a four year Red Ledger staffer who suffers from severe senioritis, cannot wait to be done with high school. But, since she is stuck there until June, she is determined to make her last year her best year. As a part of making the 2017-2018 school year the best one yet, Felton created her schedule only with classes she enjoys going to, such as newspaper and art. Sadly, she was forced to include core classes. Newspaper has been a passion of Felton's since middle school when she was one day added to the class, and she’s been a part of it every year since. Along with a love for journalism, Felton also has a soft spot for art– sculpture, to be exact. If she is not at school, she is probably working or with friends, as she's not a big fan of sitting at home and doing nothing. Even though Felton already has one foot out the door, she adores newspaper, and it will be one of the very few things she will miss from her years at Lovejoy High School.
Matthew Cinquepalmi, Multimedia Editor
Since joining The Red Ledger staff midway through the 2015-2016 school year, senior Matthew Cinquepalmi has loved every moment of his time as a videographer, and he accredits all of his knowledge to YouTube tutorials and the legendary Ian Raybon. When he’s not in the newsroom working on newspaper-related projects, Matthew can be found in the newsroom working on broadcast related projects. If by some miracle he finishes his work, Matthew turns to his many hobbies of saxophone performance, shooting sports, camping, hunting, short film production and fitness. Matthew is also an active member of the Boy Scouts of America and has achieved the rank of Eagle Scout. He plans to study business management at the University of North Texas and looks forward to doing business with Mark Cuban. Matthew considers himself to be an extreme optimist who refuses to look at the negatives, and he will continue to do so in his final and most likely best year yet at the school.

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