October 30, 2007 - Thousands of Nevada students are learning how to participate in the January presidential caucuses through a nonpartisan education program going on in schools across the state.

The next “mockus” will be held Thursday, Nov. 1, at 7:30 a.m. at Legacy High School, 1900 W Deer Springs Way in North Las Vegas.  The media is invited to cover the mock caucus with students.

The Nevada Democratic Party has been working with high schools in Clark, Washoe, Lyon, Douglas and other rural counties to develop nonpartisan curriculum that teaches high school seniors how a caucus will work.

A representative of the Democratic Party walks students through a caucus as though it is Saturday,  January 19th.  Sometimes, students caucus for their favorite pizza instead of their favorite presidential candidate, sometimes they caucus on the issues most important to them.

The nonpartisan education programs are part of the Democratic Party’s efforts to encourage teenagers  to participate in the Jan. 19th caucuses.  Any Nevadan who turns 18 years old before the general election on Nov. 4, 2008, is eligible to participate in the January presidential caucus, even if he or she is only 17 years old at the time of the caucus.

More than 500 Lyon County students participated in a "mockus" last week at the Silver Stage High  School in Silver Springs, a town about 50 miles outside of Reno.  The students created candidates based on the issues they care most about, and then caucused between those candidates.

http://www.nevadaappeal.com/article/20071026/NEWS/110260113

About 50 students already caucused for pizza instead of presidential candidates in June at George Whittell High School in Zephyr Cove, which is near Lake Tahoe.

In the Clark County School District, which includes  Las Vegas and its suburbs, about 1,000 students have caucused at Mojave  and Valley high schools.  [http://www.nvdemscaucus.com/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=218&Itemid=32]

Each of the almost 50 high schools in the Clark County School District, the fifth-largest school district in the country, have been invited to  participate in a nonpartisan curriculum that includes presentations from both the Democratic and Republican parties. 

The Nevada Democratic Party is working with other school districts in Nevada, include the Washoe County School District, on additional nonpartisan programs to educate students on the caucus process.