Activities Recommended by Students or Others

1. VOTING BY ABSENTEE BALLOT IN NY PRIMARY:
As you may know, for more than forty years NYPIRG has worked tirelessly to get students registered and ready to vote. Therefore, I am reaching out to you and your students about our campaign to make sure that students are able to vote while safely practicing social distancing.
As you are probably aware, in light of the COVID-19 pandemic, Governor Cuomo has issued an executive order allowing all New Yorkers to cast absentee ballots and will be sending an application for an absentee ballot to every New Yorker. I have pasted an announcement for students about the importance of voting absentee and how to do so below. Would you be able to share it on your class' online discussion forum or announcement board? Attached, you will also find a helpful 2-page fact sheet with all the necessary information one may need to get an absentee ballot in New York City.
 "Announcement from NYPIRG: In this time of crisis, when issues like affordable higher education and fighting climate change are still active and COVID-19 causing chaos, it's critical that students are able to vote without compromising their safety. Therefore, this year every New Yorker can vote by absentee in the June 23rd Primary Election. You can get a ballot either by filling out the application which will be sent to you in the mail, downloading and returning the application here, or using NYC's OnlineForm (see link below). Make sure that your voice is heard on June 23rd!"

NYC Board of Elections Absentee Ballot Requests Online Form and Other Methods: https://vote.nyc/page/absentee-voting and https://nycabsentee.com
NYPIRG Rock the Absentee Vote Flyer for Manhattan (other boroughs have different mailing addresses for the Board of Elections): Rock the Absentee Fact Sheet.pdf

Thank You,
Ayesha Schmitt
-
Project Coordinator
New York Public Interest Research Group | NYPIRG
Office Location: Thomas Hunter Hall 314
Office: 212-772-4304
Cell: (917) 805 8391
Email: aschmitt@nypirg.org

2. Virtual Internship for Aravella Simotas, a Democrat in the State Assembly who represents a district in Queens who is running for re-election. Links to information about Aravella Simotas:
https://nyassembly.gov/mem/Aravella-Simotas/bio/ and https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Aravella_Simotas

I am emailing on behalf of the Aravella Simotas for State Assembly campaign. I know that the Coronavirus pandemic has disrupted many aspects of daily life, including college, but the primary election is still scheduled to occur in June. Many of your students may have had their summer plans disrupted as a result of Covid-19, and I hope this internship will be of interest to them. We are excited to be offering “virtual” internship opportunities with our campaign to college students.

I am reaching out to you, as a political science professor, because you understand the vital role that the political process can play in a student’s education and future career path. The internship is extremely flexible and will provide students a chance to practically apply the knowledge they learn every day in class.

With the Coronavirus pandemic, I believe the internship will prove particularly valuable to students. It offers an opportunity to continue learning about the political process and “virtually” collaborate with their peers. Prior to the pandemic, I have spoken to classes at local universities and there was a lot of interest in the program. Our campaign currently has several college interns, and they have enjoyed “virtually” campaigning.

I have attached a flyer about our internship program to this email. I would appreciate it if you can pass it along to your students.

Thank you!

All the best,

T.J. Worthington
t.j.worthington9@gmail.com

Flyer:

Aravella Simotas for Assembly Campaign Virtual Internship Program

Responsibilities:

  • ❏  Engage in a targeted outreach program over the phone and online to persuade voters to support our candidate

  • ❏  Recruit, train, and manage volunteers

  • ❏  Organize and staff “virtual” events

  • ❏  Address constituent concerns and direct voters to proper channels

  • ❏  Work with staffers to hit campaign-wide goals

    Benefits:

  • ❏  Résumé/application building for future employment

  • ❏  Improve interpersonal communication skills

  • ❏  Hands-on experience working on a competitive political campaign

  • ❏  Gain proficiency in software and data analysis techniques applicable in a

    range of fields

  • ❏  Staff-level experience

    Minimum Requirements:
    ❏ Interns:​ Eight hours per week, ​divided up as you please

    ❏ Fellows:​ Fifteen hours per week, ​divided up as you please

    *If you are interested:

    Contact T.J. Worthington (631) 605-0348 or email at t.j.worthington9@gmail.com

3. 7 ways to still have a productive summer, even if your internship fell through

Submitted by Hillary Mantis on Fri, 05/08/2020 - 12:47pm

Published in National Jurist Prelaw magazine

By Hillary Mantis

Your summer internship may have fallen through. Or you may not be able to find one. It’s not an easy time to be a pre-law student. But despite the worldwide effects of COVID-19, there are still many ways to make your summer productive, even from home.

Here are some ideas:

-Take the LSAT:  Last week I had three sophomores reach out to me to run by their idea of studying for the LSAT early. I think it can be a good idea. If you have time to study for the LSAT and you don’t have a summer internship, you can potentially get the LSAT done this summer, or at least start LSAT test prep. Check out www.lsac.org for updated information about test information and registration. Also check out the Khan Academy, which has free LSAT prep online. Many test prep companies are offering online courses, and often have discounts and scholarships.

-Load Up on Summer School Credits: If you don’t have an internship or job, now might be a good time to take extra credits at summer school. The good news is since most schools are still operating remotely as of now, you may be able to take courses both through your home school and through other colleges. Some law schools also have a summer pre-law institute which offers early insight into law school and legal careers. Often those courses can be taken for college credit.

-Acquire a New Skill: While you might not find a legal job, you can still add to your general skills. How about taking a computer course to learn new software? Or getting EMT or other training? Or even learning a new language or skill you have been wanting to learn?

-Volunteer: You can find many ways to volunteer, as there are countless ways in which people need help now. This could be legally related or not. You could potentially do anything from pro bono legal work, to helping the healthcare workers, to tutoring kids online who need help learning, to volunteering on campaigns for the upcoming political elections. I know many college and law students have come up with their own great ideas of how to help during these troubling times.

-Network: Networking is certainly not the face-to face scenario it used to be these days, but it is still possible. Many colleges offer mentor programs, and webinars are being offered on how to network, often featuring alumni. In fact, alums who may now live far from their alma mater and could not travel to campus to be on a panel, now can participate in a webinar or Zoom meeting. While you may not be able to go to your career services office, they are still there, offering programs remotely.

-Get A Head Start on Law School Applications: This summer may be a good time for you to write up a good draft of your personal statement for law school, and start to request recommendations. You can set up an account on www.lsac.org and research what is needed to apply.

-Research Law Schools and Legal Careers: You research different law school’s websites even if you are not applying yet. You can also look at sites such as www.nalp.org for comprehensive information about the legal job market.

When the fall semester starts, you might be glad you took advantage of the extra time you had this summer to learn new skills and get things done!

Hillary Mantis works with pre-law students, law students and lawyers. She is assistant dean for the pre-law program at Fordham University and author of career books. You can reach her at altcareer@aol.com

4. Link for Course Listing for Fall 2020 and Spring 2021 - Community Leadership: WGSP 398 and SOC 225.58

5. Brennan Center for Justice at NYU School of Law Fall Internship Program for College Students (Deadline: June, 1, 2020). The link to information about the internship as well as the online application form is available at https://brennancenter.applytojob.com/apply/BAMfsAb1Z2/Fall-2020-Undergraduate-Internship-In-NY?utm_campaign=google_jobs_apply&utm_source=google_jobs_apply&utm_medium=organic

6. If you have a younger family member who self-identifies as a girl and who is in grades 9-12 or know someone who is interested in learning to code and who qualifies for the free online program offered by the New York Historical Society, please share this information with them. The registration deadline is May 15 and the direct link to register is: https://nyhistory.wufoo.com/forms/z1x6wmt40zqfp2b/


In response to the COVID-19 pandemic, the New-York Historical Society is making our popular Tech Scholars coding program available online to students nationwide for FREE.

TECH SCHOLARS ONLINE

Learn to code online in a supportive, all-girl environment! Explore how women across the spectrum of race, class, and sexuality exercised power and effected change. Share under-told stories of women throughout history and code digital projects that make a difference in the world and help fight the gender gap. 

Open to: High school students, grades 9–12 who self-identify as girls.

Questions? Contact teens@nyhistory.org.

Upcoming TECH SCHOLARS ONLINE Programs for Teens: 

Tech Scholars ONLINE: Web Design
Wednesdays, May 20 – June 24, 2020, 4:30 pm – 6:30 pm EST 
Participation is FREE for high school girls nationwide! Register by May 15!
Where are all the women in history textbooks? Explore important contributions by underrepresented women in history, then code and create a website to amplify a woman’s story as you learn HTML and CSS.