Iowa Secretary of State Paul Pate announces 19 Iowa schools qualified for the Carrie Chapman Catt Award this school year. The award goes to schools that register at least 90 percent of their eligible students to vote. More than 2,600 high school students registered this year in conjunction with the Catt Award initiative.
Secretary Pate created the award in 2019 to encourage voter registration in Iowa high schools. The award is named after Carrie Chapman Catt, a famous Iowa native who was instrumental in securing passage of the 19th Amendment, granting women access to the ballot box more than 100 years ago.
“It’s great to see so many young people stepping up and taking the first step in the voting process by getting registered,” Secretary Pate said. “Thank you to the teachers and administrators at these 17 schools by engaging the students in civics. I tell young people all the time, the best way to make your voice heard is by voting, and to do that, you need to get registered.”
Each of the 19 schools recognized for registering 90% or more of eligible students will be presented the Carrie Chapman Catt Award trophy. Additionally, 9 Iowa schools registered more than 70 percent of eligible students, and 10 registered more than 50 percent. Inspire2Vote collaborated with Secretary Pate’s office to assist schools with their voter registration efforts.
Here is a list of the 19 schools that earned the award. Five schools qualified for the award for the fourth straight year (denoted with four asterisks****). Four schools qualified for the award for the third time (denoted with three asterisks***). Four schools qualified for the award for the second time (denoted with two asterisks**). Six schools qualified for the award for the first time this year.
- Ballard High School (Huxley)****
- Bishop Garrigan High School (Algona)***
- Central Community School (Elkader)**
- Clayton Ridge High School (Guttenberg)***
- Dubuque Senior High School (Dubuque)
- Essex Junior-Senior High School (Essex)
- Fairfield High School (Fairfield)
- Gladbrook-Reinbeck High School (Reinbeck)**
- Harlan High School (Harlan)
- Isaac Newton Christian Academy (Cedar Rapids)****
- Lake Mills High School (Lake Mills)**
- Lone Tree High School (Lone Tree)****
- Marquette Catholic High School (Bellevue)***
- Norwalk High School (Norwalk)****
- Remsen St. Mary’s High School (Remsen)
- Rivermont Collegiate (Bettendorf)****
- West Marshall High School (State Center)**
- West Monona High School (Onawa)
- Woodward-Granger High School (Woodward)***
Schools that registered at least 70% of eligible students (9) will receive a commemorative banner recognizing their achievement:
- BCLUW High School (Conrad)
- Camanche High School (Camanche)
- Central Lyon Senior High School (Rock Rapids)
- Denver Senior High School (Denver)
- Hillcrest Academy (Kalona)
- Newman Catholic High School (Wausau)
- North Tama High School (Traer)
- Storm Lake St. Mary’s (Storm Lake)
- Waterloo Christian High School (Waterloo)
Schools that registered at least 50% of eligible students (10) will receive a personalized certificate from the Iowa Secretary of State:
- Collins-Maxwell Middle/High School (Maxwell)
- Dunkerton High School (Dunkerton)
- East Mills Jr/Sr High School (Malvern)
- Fremont-Mills Middle and Senior High School (Tabor)
- Griswold Middle/High School (Griswold)
- Grundy Center High School (Grundy Center)
- Oelwein High School (Oelwein)
- Regina Jr Sr High School (Iowa City)
- Wapello Senior High School (Wapello)
- Westwood High School (Sloan)
