Granite City High School: A democracy school with a proud tradition of service

A strong belief that civic engagement among its students prepares them to become productive and responsible citizens and a long-standing tradition of community service and civic engagement compelled Granite City High School, a school of 1,900 students, located in Granite City, Illinois, to apply for a designation as a Democracy School. This designation was awarded to the school in 2015 through the Illinois Civic Mission Coalition.

Vincent Willaredt, social studies department chair, reports that Granite City High School is replete with unsung heroes who do good work without the need for any reward. The long tradition of community service at Granite City High School began with the Student Council’s 35-year-old tradition of preparing holiday baskets for those in need. In keeping with this example, the first action the school took after being designated a Democracy School was to use its Democracy School stipend to provide every third grader in the district with the student’s own book on U.S. presidents. Mr. Willaredt hopes to inspire these future high school students early on.

Seventy-five percent of GCHS students are involved in at least one school extracurricular activity, many of which focus on service to the community. For example, the Student Council has sponsored safe driving campaigns that have won awards from the Department of Transportation; the National Honor Society sponsors some of the area’s largest blood drives as defined by units of blood collected; and the school’s athletic teams raise funds for cancer. The faculty is working to help students be intentional about the value of these activities and their importance to the community. They hope students will take the spirit of volunteerism into their adult lives as responsible citizens.

Granite City High School builds a sense of community with its Renaissance Committee, a group of students and staff with a mission to improve student responsibility through incentive programs and to bolster school and team spirit through special events. Even before freshmen enter the school, they are involved in summer activities to help them transition to high school. The community building continues through the fall with activities such as the Welcome Back pep rally. The Renaissance Committee builds a partnership with the community through activities the GCHS Warrior Car show. The school also reaches out to the business community through several other cooperative programs. It’s no wonder that business and homes throughout the community proudly display signs that say “We are GC.”

The Granite City High School curriculum fosters a strong sense of citizenship. Students and teachers in social studies and other classes discuss current events, including so-called “hot” or controversial topics. The social studies curriculum includes a Global Issues class, which gives students the opportunity to earn college credit through St. Louis University. The school also offers a unique option for students to take a third semester of American History that is focused on more recent U.S. history. GCHS wants to enhance community involvement in classes outside the social studies curriculum and will consider a service learning program.

With the Democracy School designation, Granite City High School hopes to increase student interest in the political process through more interaction with the process and public officials. Granite City High School faculty are concerned that some students may not have a positive attitude toward politics and have accepted that as a challenge. The staff even hopes to encourage more student-parent discussion about matters of public policy.

Through some unique opportunities, Granite City High School students are becoming more directly engaged in the democratic process. Large numbers of students register to vote and frequently serve as election judges. They also participate in mock elections at school. This strong spirit of civic engagement must have been at work when one GCHS student awoke before dawn to arrive at the courthouse early and become the first 17-year old in the state to register to vote under the new state law.

Granite City High School and neighboring O’Fallon Township High School, also recently named a Democracy School, join Belleville East High School and Belleville West High School as examples of Metro-East schools in which civic engagement is alive and well. 