Dajauneke Minor

With November bringing important federal, state, and local elections, a new position in the Spring ISD Family and Community Engagement department will aim to ensure that students and parents exercise their right to vote. 

Dajauneke Minor, the district’s new Civic Engagement Coordinator, plans on bringing her history of political involvement to motivate district participation in elections and politics.

“I grew up in a family that was political,” Minor said. “And we always had discussions about politics and elections coming up.”

Seeing her parents and grandparents volunteer at polling locations helped Minor to understand the importance of voting as she entered adulthood and continued her family’s involvement. During college, Minor joined her student government association and later became a volunteer voter registrar. Recently, her experiences working as a voter educator in Acres Homes for the Center for Civic and Public Policy Improvement motivated her to connect with more Houstonians and led her to the Spring community.

Thanks to a grant awarded by the local nonprofit Houston Endowment, the district was not only able to fund the new position but also learn more about the statistics in the Spring area. Spring has a voter turnout rate of 50.6%, meaning barely half of the citizens in the area participated in elections. Additionally, the lack of voter participation is most profoundly felt in the local elections, which are closest to the community and the district. While many voters might be knowledgeable and ready to vote for the presidential elections, they might be unaware of the local elections. 

“Who you vote for affects your day-to-day life,” Minor emphasized, while explaining just how critical local elections are to the community. 

Specifically, Minor discussed how voters will decide on the school board in November, which directly affects not just Spring ISD, but districts across Houston by approving the curriculum and setting budgets. She also pointed toward the Texas Supreme Court elections, whose choices trickle down to students, such as the decision on whether to uphold US Supreme Court Rulings on affirmative action or not. These are issues that directly affect Spring ISD students, especially Juniors and Seniors who are getting ready for life after high school, which is where the district plans to focus many upcoming initiatives. 

Tranita Carroll, Executive Director of Family and Community Engagement, emphasized the importance of ensuring students are aware of what issues affect them.

“As a district,” she said, “We have a responsibility to not only educate our students academically, but civically, too. The work we will do with Ms. Minor will be essential to foster young minds that are informed and ready to participate in a democratic society.”

With many 11th- and 12th-graders coming of age to vote, Minor plans to bring in community organizations such as the League of Women Voters and VoteRiders to help guide students through the voting process. Connecting with the high school government and economics teachers to hold presentations and days dedicated to getting informed is another way Minor wants to reach out to the district. 

Additionally, she hopes to create opportunities, such as a potential arts competition highlighting civic engagement, for students themselves to start campus initiatives and motivate their peers to get involved. These efforts will translate to parents, too, as they may be facing barriers to voting but also have needs in their community. But, the projects go beyond just registering people to vote. 

“You can register people all day long, but will they actually go out and vote is the question,”Minor said. She and the Offices of Family and Community Engagement hope to develop sustainable and long-term involvement in the community as they look beyond November.

The last day to register to vote is Oct. 7, with early voting starting Oct. 21 through Nov. 1 before Election Day on Nov. 5.