Civic engagement is in New Hampshire's blood
Jan. 20—Allyson Ryder was a freshman at Southern New Hampshire University in 2001 when news of the 9/11 attacks came.
"It just kind of rocked my world," she said. "I just remember feeling shaken. Eighteen is a pretty young age to think about being attacked in our own country."
But as terrible as that day was, she remembers something else as well: "It created that space where we were reminded, in that brief moment, of how we are all interconnected and what it means to be interconnected."
Ryder, 40, is the new executive director of NH Civics, a statewide nonprofit organization that promotes civics education and engagement. She is committed to fostering the kind of civic engagement that can bring people together — regardless of their political stripes — the way they were on that long-ago September day.
Ryder takes the helm as voters here are engaged in one of New Hampshire's most cherished civic traditions: choosing who should lead the nation over the next four years. Tuesday's presidential primary arrives at a time when educating kids — and adults — about civics seems more vital to our democracy than ever.
Civics is "the backbone to everything," says Ryder, who grew up in Boscawen.
From education and health care to housing and economics, "Nothing can get done without civics," she said. "It's the foundation of everything we need in order to have a functioning society."
What exactly is civics? For Ryder, it's about the obligation we all have to participate in what is, by design, a government by and for the people. "We need people to be engaging in order to create a functioning society in which we all want to live and thrive," she said.
That's the mission of the nonprofit organization she now leads.
NH Civics promotes civics education for all ages. For youngsters, the organization hosts the New Hampshire's Kid Governor program, which teaches students about state government, and the Civics 603 program, which gives middle and high schoolers an inside look at the state's court system.
It also provides professional development and curriculum resources for teachers, and hosts free lecture series for the public.
Funded by private donations and grants, NH Civics offers all its programs free of charge. "We believe this is a public good," Ryder said.
New Hampshire has a civics requirement as part of its state education standards. How that mandate gets addressed varies from school to school — and from school board to school board, Ryder said.
That's the "classic" New Hampshire model of local control, Ryder said. "It's an understanding that we want to be teaching this, but we don't necessarily have state-issued standards and mandates for each system to follow," she said.
The civics requirement has new teeth this year.
Under a state law that took effect in July, students are required to pass a "locally developed competency assessment" in civics and U.S. government, as well as the 128-question U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services naturalization exam, in order to graduate from high school.
School districts must report the results of the naturalization tests annually to the state Department of Education, starting this June.
Small state, big role
So how does a young woman end up championing something as arcane — some might say archaic — as civics education?
Ryder thinks the seeds were planted when she was in kindergarten. She remembers her teacher, Mrs. Nixon, sitting the students down and explaining how elections work: "Here's who's running for president, this is what a ballot looks like, this is how you vote."
Ronald Reagan was on the ballot, running for a second term as president. Ryder was only 5 years old but she remembers that moment to this day, she said.
New Hampshire has a long tradition of civic engagement, with a critical role to play every four years in selecting a president to lead the country — some say an outsize role.
"We are a small state," Ryder said. "You can move about nimbly, and there is something beautiful about that opportunity here in New Hampshire."
She would like to see that same opportunity offered in other states and other regions, instead of the media- and ad-dominated campaigns that happen in most places. "In an ideal world, we would be able to all have access to the candidates, to ask whatever questions we have," she said.
American democracy is not perfect, but its foundations are strong, she said. "The unique thing is, it doesn't matter if you are a teacher, a doctor, a plumber, a customer service professional. Every single person has a place within this system, whether that's voting, or running for your school board, or an appointed office," she said. "Our systems do not exist without human engagement."
That engagement doesn't have to be political, she said. "You can be on the conservation commission in your town," she said. "You can be on the budget committee, you can sit on your PTA. That's all civic engagement."
Understanding how the three branches of government function? "That's not politics," she said. "That's civics."
In her experience, kids understand that distinction better than adults. "Politicization of civics is no help to our younger generations," she said.
Children inspire her, Ryder said, citing the excitement of the youngsters participating in the Kid Governor program. "They give me motivation, and they give me hope, because I do want to create a better world, " she said.
History also gives her hope, she said.
"My great-grandmother wasn't able to get a credit card, and here I am, owning a house, with a master's degree," she said. "We've come a long way."
She and her wife, Ange, live in North Hampton with their two dogs and two cats.
For the greater good
After getting her undergraduate degree in business administration at SNHU, Ryder went on to earn a master's in public policy and management from the Muskie School of Public Policy at the University of Southern Maine. Before joining NH Civics, she worked at the University of New Hampshire's Office of Community, Equity and Diversity.
She also was a fellow at UNH's Carsey School of Public Policy's New Hampshire Listens program, which promotes civil discourse to address community issues and conflicts. She saw firsthand how people with strongly opposing views can come to understand each other's position.
It takes patience, and a willingness to engage among people who disagree. In today's busy, fractured world, however, many people have stopped listening to opposing views — or even meeting people who hold them, she said.
"That's what is missing," Ryder said. "How do we carve out time in our society to get to know each other human to human?"
Doing otherwise, she said, is "a missed opportunity."
Yet so much of our discourse is decidedly uncivil.
"Ultimately, I don't have a solution, but I do know that the core of the solution has to be that we cannot continue dehumanizing and 'othering' in order for us to overcome this," Ryder said. "The core of it has to be about the rehumanizing of ourselves and each other.
"It's OK to believe in something that matters to you, but the only way to get the other person to understand why it matters to you is for you to see that their humanity matters to you too," she said. "And you have to know that your existence and your beliefs do not need to be threatened because someone else has a different belief," she said.
During challenging times, Americans have been able to set aside their differences, Ryder pointed out.
"We do have a history of that in this country," she said. "We have times when we've all been able to put that aside and really get back to the greater good."
