Local news in the classroom: Bring the 2026 election to your students
Good afternoon,
I’m sending this week’s Educator Update a little later than usual – and this one is a little different.
With the November election season underway, I wanted to share a few ways you can use local elections, journalism and media literacy as classroom learning opportunities this fall.
The Nov. 3 election includes local city races, school board contests and ballot measures that will directly affect communities across Santa Cruz County.
For students, it’s an opportunity to look at democracy not as something happening far away in Washington, D.C., but as something happening at their school, in their neighborhood and in their community.
Bring the local election into your classroom
Here are a few ways to get started:
Follow a local race.
Have students choose a city council, mayoral or school board race and follow it throughout the fall. What issues are candidates talking about? What questions aren’t being answered? How do their positions compare?
Practice media literacy.
Ask students to compare a news story, a campaign website, a candidate social media post and an opinion piece about the same issue. What is the purpose of each? What information is supported by evidence? What questions remain?
Connect elections to their lives.
School board decisions affect students directly. City councils make decisions about housing, transportation, parks and public safety. Ballot measures can affect taxes, services and how communities operate. Ask students: What local decisions affect your life, even if you don’t get to vote yet?
Ask the candidates questions.
We’d love to hear from your students. If there’s a question they would like us to ask candidates at one of our upcoming forums, send it our way. We can help bring students’ questions into these community conversations.
Upcoming local election forums
Lookout is hosting and moderating several free public forums this fall, including:
Sept. 23 – Santa Cruz City mayoral candidates
Ryan Coonerty and Ami Chen Mills | 6 – 8 p.m. at The 418 Project
Learn more and register →
Sept. 30 – Watsonville City Council candidates
Districts 5 and 7 | 6 – 8 p.m. at Watsonville Civic Plaza
Learn more and register →
Oct. 7 – Capitola City Council candidates
Hosted by Capitola Cares and the Capitola-Soquel Chamber of Commerce, with Lookout’s Jody K. Biehl moderating. Save the date.
Oct. 13 — Felton Fire Protection District candidates
Meet the candidates for two open board seats and learn more about the issues facing the district. Save the date.
We’re especially glad to be working with local, nonpartisan community organizations to make these conversations possible.
A classroom visit from Lookout
We do offer classroom visits focused on journalism, media literacy and the role of the press in a democracy. We can talk with students about how journalists cover elections, how to evaluate information and sources, how campaign messaging differs from news reporting, and why an independent press matters in a democracy.
If you’d like us to visit your classroom – or if your students have questions you’d like us to consider asking candidates – just reply to this email.
And remember: students don’t have to be 18 to participate in democracy. Learning how to ask questions, evaluate information, understand local government and listen to people with different perspectives are all skills they can start learning and practicing now.
One more resource
Lookout’s 2026 Election Central brings together our local election reporting, including coverage of city races, school board elections and other issues on the November ballot. Browse our election coverage here →
Thanks for everything you’re doing to help students become curious, informed and engaged members of their communities.
If you’d like to learn more about our school programs, get more involved or have any questions, please reach out to me jamie@lookoutlocal.com.
Best,
Jamie Garfield
Director of Student & Community Engagement
Lookout Santa Cruz
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