Yesterday was a significant day for our communities and state as we elected new and incumbent leaders to political offices entrusted with representing the people of Hawai‘i in running our city, county, state and federal governments — including a new governor, a new mayor of Maui County, a new U.S. House member and more. Regardless of who you cast your ballot for, your active participation is what makes democracy work.

Many of Hawai‘i's newest voters and up-and-coming voters are students of our public school system and I'm proud of our educators and student government organizations that work hard to instill in all students their civic responsibility and the role each of us play in a democratic society.

Hawai‘i News Now recently visited an AP Government and Politics class at Mililani High and a Participation in Democracy class at Farrington High to speak with students and their teachers about the election and the importance of civic engagement.

“We are very much affected by the policies that our representatives enact and we can be very educated, there’s a lot of different ways — you can do self research, but just from what we learn at school,” Mililani senior Josslyn Rose, who is a first-time voter in this election, told HNN. “It’s very important and every vote matters.”

It's inspiring to hear from future leaders and decision-makers like Josslyn and I want to acknowledge teachers like Jason Duncan at Mililani and Jeff Martinson at Farrington for providing relevant and real-world learning experiences.

“Government can’t hear what you wanted to do if you just stay silent,” Martinson told HNN. “Not just the youth, everyone should be encouraged to vote, and this is one way to get that started at an early age.”