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Last week, 35 Two Rivers High School students gathered at Boca Chica to phone bank in support of the ISD 197 levy. The effort was conceived and organized by two seniors at Two Rivers, Saakar Basyal and Levi Paper.
“Generally, people have been supportive of our efforts,” said Basyal. “While there are some who say we are wasting our time because the outcome of the levy won’t affect seniors like us, we would say that the fact that we are seniors and leaving the district soon is even more reason to get involved.”
What: The levy on the ballot will raise $4.6 million per year and help the district at a time when state funding isn’t keeping pace with rising costs. The district already cut $3.2 million over the last two years. If the levy fails, they’ll need to cut an additional $2-4 million, impacting classrooms by cutting teachers, increasing class sizes, and reducing class/activity offerings and transportation services.
Who: Basyal and Paper co-founded the Student Voices Committee, an effort to represent and engage the student body.
- “When we first learned about the levy, we saw this as a key issue that we needed to help support,” said Basyal.
Why phone banking:
- “I wanted to phone bank because I understand how crucial this levy is for the district,” said Paper. “Saakar and I understand we are seniors and although this may not ‘directly’ affect us we know how important it is to our community.”
- “Members of the vote yes committee had already been making an effort to reach people by phone, but they were understaffed,” said Basyal. “We realized that phone banking was an easy way for students to get involved and make a big impact.”
The Reaction
“When we originally started recruiting people the responses were not super positive. We heard a lot of questions asking ‘why are you doing this when you get nothing from it,'” said Paper. But after the phone banking they were encouraged by the students who volunteered and shared their thoughts in a survey. “Every student who filled out the form said they would come again and they felt they made a significant impact, which was super cool to see!”
How it feels to be politically engaged:
- “It feels fulfilling to do work that benefits the next generation of students in our district,” said Basyal.
- “It feels super fulfilling, this was the perfect way for me to help the district while gaining the experience needed to pursue a political science degree in college,” said Paper.
What’s Next:
“This was absolutely not a one time thing,” said Basyal. “We have another phone banking event planned this coming weekend. In addition, we have recently started our door knocking campaign that has dozens of volunteers involved.”
Their next student phone banking event is Sunday, October 25. If that’s successful, they plan to do another one on Sunday, November 1.
“The easiest and one of the most effective ways for students to help the cause would be for them to encourage their parents, relatives, and neighbors to go vote in favor of the levy,” said Basyal.
How to get involved: Students who want to get more involved can email Basyal or Paper. Anyone interested in phone banking can sign up online.
Learn More
Read more about the levy on the ballot, see the district’s website, or visit the vote yes committee. At this time we’re not aware of any organized vote no committee.
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(Photos provided by Saakar Basyal, Levi Paper, and 197 Building the Future)
2 Responses
The student’s name is Saakar Basyal.
Yep, sorry about that, we already corrected it.