Stonington — A new club promoting civic engagement is giving high school students here a way to have their voices heard and give back to their community.

The Community Civics Advocate Club, founded this year by Ella Rothman, a sophomore, and Maddie DeLaura, a junior, has two purposes: to let students learn how town government works and to find ways they can be a part of the process.

“There’s a lot of decisions made by the town that impact us, and I don’t think a lot of kids our age really know what goes on or how things work. I think that’s important,” DeLaura said last month.

“We hope the students get a better understanding of how the town works. I always overhear people saying, ‘The school day is longer. I hate how they made it longer,’ but they don’t really know why it’s longer or what process it took to make it longer,” Rothman said.

Rothman, 15, and DeLaura, 16, developed the idea for the club during a shared study hall, and recruited Ann Marie Houle, a multi-disciplinary teacher at the high school, to be the club’s advisor.

“I think it’s completely inspiring that they want to start something like this, and there was definitely a ton of involvement and enthusiasm,” Houle said after the club’s first meeting in October.

She said the meeting drew a “big” turnout of approximately 24 students.

The students want the club to be collaborative and to allow members to pursue their own interests. They surveyed fellow students at the first meeting about what they were passionate about, and then used their responses to begin assigning members into committees based on interests.

A student interested in climate change would become part of the club’s Climate Change Committee, and a student interested in finance may join the club’s Finance Committee.

The club plans to have town employees or members from the corresponding town departments, boards or commissions come to talk about the work they do. First Selectman Danielle Chesebrough, Rothman’s inspiration for the club, came and spoke at the club’s first meeting about how town government works and what happens behind the scenes.

Hands-on experience

The second goal is to get the students involved through hands-on experience related to each club committee through volunteering.

Some may volunteer to help with work the town’s Beautification Committee, while others could work with the Historical Society’s Cemetery Committee to help clean some of the town’s 45 cemeteries and ancient burial grounds, mark where veterans are buried or restore headstones.

Students with other interests will have to think outside the box, but Rothman noted that the town’s social media presence is limited, and Houle suggested that some may be able to assist in outreach and marketing to a generation that grew up with social media.

DeLaura and Rothman want the town to know that young people deserve a voice, and their contribution is important.

“It’s important that they get a chance to speak about what they want, and not just let the adults handle it, because everyone in high school is just getting to that point of maturity that they’re going to be able to start making those decisions that will affect the town,” Rothman said.

“I think it could affect the town. If people start getting involved now, then in the future there might be younger people getting involved in the local government,” DeLaura said.