During the 2008 presidential election, more than 60 percent of 18- to 24-year-olds voted in Douglas County. It was a higher rate than those between the ages of 25 and 44.

“You represent what is being considered an emerging power in elections,” Douglas County Clerk Jamie Shew told a room of high school students — none of them old enough to vote.

The group of around a dozen sophomores and juniors were attending Citizen Now!, a half-day academy sponsored by the nonprofit group Kids Voting Kansas.

Along with Shew, the students interacted with officials who they could someday vote for: State Senator Tom Holland, Douglas County Commissioner Jim Flory and Judge Joseph Pierron Jr. of the Kansas Court of Appeals.

Shew said while the turnout of young voters during the 2008 election was exciting, the numbers in the county and municipal elections of April 2009 were less than stellar. Just 2 percent of voters between the ages of 18 and 24 showed up at the polls.

“The people elected in the 2009 election have more impact on your daily life than the president of the United States. They determine how much you pay in taxes, whose streets get paved and if there is going to be a noise ordinance,” Shew said.

“When I say participate in elections, I mean all elections,” he said.

Saturday’s event is the first of six that will take place across the state, intended to get high school students more involved in the democratic process.

“We want to give them ideas so when they leave they can take the information back to their schools and communities and motivate other people in the high schools,” Citizen Now! coordinator Angel Romero said.

Colin Thomas, a Baldwin High School junior, already has plans for how to engage his fellow students. He wants to start a Patriot Club, which would celebrate American heritage.

“I believe government participation is incredibly important in times like these,” Thomas said.