Activity book introduces students to county government

Key Takeaways

In Bernalillo County, N.M., Clerk Linda Stover was on a mission when elected to office to promote civic education in schools throughout the county.

When attending a past NACo conference, Stover learned about the iCivics program and the My County Works Activity Book for elementary students. She knew she wanted to take the concept home and make it her own. 

Stover spearheaded the creation of the About My County Activity Book which is designed to introduce students to the Bernalillo County government structure. The book is based on the My County Works Activity Book with information specific to the Bernalillo County government.

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Bernalillo County's About My County Activity Book

My County Works Activity Book

While visiting schools after being elected county clerk, Stover said she found students had no civic classes on local government. While the social studies educational standards in New Mexico include civic requirements, they focus on learning about state and national governments. 

“They knew who the president was, they knew some of that stuff, but their local stuff which is their backyard stuff, these little kids had no idea,” she said.

The goals of the About My County Activity Book are to inspire students to become public servants and elected officials and educate students about the services Bernalillo County offers.

Stover talked with directors about their divisions and gathered information to incorporate into the book which describes the county, districts, commissioners, the treasurer, assessor, court of wills, estates and probate, sheriff’s department, county manager’s office, fire department, animal care services, community services division, senior and social services and housing, among others.

“Bernco Bernie,” a sheep who serves as the county mascot, guides students in the activity book through games, illustrations, coloring prompts, fun facts and puzzles.

Stover came up with the idea to use Bitmojis (cartoon versions of people) to represent the people working for Bernalillo County. 

“The hard part was convincing these directors to get one [an emoji],” she said. “I wanted something that would hold a child’s interest.”

Communication Services Coordinator Tiffany Chamblee played a key role in the design of the book.

Chamblee explained that she has a broad knowledge of the county because she’s worked in various departments, which helped her streamline the book’s language to be understandable for children.

“County government and civics can be very confusing and so I wanted to simplify it as much as possible using illustrations and learning techniques to bring it down to their level,” she said.

The book is geared to students in third to fifth grade.

In helping Stover bring her idea to life, Chamblee designed the pages to be age appropriate and get the message across about the functions of county government.

One page covers emergency communications and focuses on the kind of information to share when making a 911 call. 

“We try to get at a mindset of a fourth and fifth grader so we had to use smaller language and smaller words and draw pictures because I wanted them to understand it,” Stover said.

Stover visited several schools during a book tour before the pandemic hit to share the activity book with students and is hoping to return to classrooms this fall.

“I carry these little books into the schools and I take colored pencils and we just go through it and have a ball,” she said.

During her classroom visits, Stover said she was approached by some teachers who told her that there was information in the book they did not know. In response, Stover made a teacher’s edition of the activity book, which includes the answers to the prompts and puzzles.

“Now when we go into a class, we take enough for each student, but we take a teacher’s edition, too,” she said.

Albuquerque Public Schools incorporated the activity book into their curriculum for all fourth graders which includes over 6,500 students in 91 elementary schools.

“I just think it’s been a real informative thing,” Stover said. “If you can get a real basic understanding of your local government, then you can go on to state and higher government.”

Stover said she believes the activity book has improved civic engagement throughout the county.

“I would encourage anybody … not just necessarily county clerks, anybody who wants to get engaged within the school, I think they’re really hungry for an education on what happens with the political process in their county with their county government,” she said.

Counties throughout the state are also working to create their own activity books based off Stover’s work.

“Civics has just kind of disappeared from our school system and I think that’s a shame so anything we can do in Bernalillo County to bring it to the forefront and share it, we’re going to do,” she said.