Hello! My name is Patrick Oliphant and I am the founder of A Republic If You Can Keep It LLC; a Civic education and outreach company. I am a 39yr old husband and father of two, living in Will County. I grew up in Alsip IL and am a grateful product of the school district 126 public school system. I graduated from Marist High School in 2000 and went on to earn a B.A. in History from Northern Illinois University in 2004. I have been a proud member of the Local 399 Stationary Engineers since 2007, and an adjunct teacher with Triton College since 2015. I grew up in a house that cemented the importance of voting in EVERY election, as hundreds of thousands of Americans willingly gave their lives for me to do so. In my adult life, I have voted in every election; with the exception of a primary while I was in college (transportation fell apart, literally). I have worked as a poll watcher for a challenger candidate in a village Mayoral race. I recently worked with the Will County Clerk’s Office as an Election Judge for their Early Voting sites, Central Count (mail-in voting verifications) and on Election Day for the November 2020 General Election, as well as in the Consolidated (local) Election in April 2021. I was also elected to the Student Council in the 7^th, 9^th-12^th grades, but I’m not so sure that counts here!

I am creating an interactive Civics course designed as a general education college level course. This project will bring Civics lessons directly to the electorate, instead of asking citizens to research their Civic responsibilities on their own. The project has two ultimate goals: 1) humanize the concept of locally elected officials and their relationships to the community electorate; 2) explain the voting processes, integrity and the hard work that goes into organizing and conducting fare and free elections in Illinois. I wish to communicate with voting age students that their elected officials are not “the authorities” but are instead members of their community, just like themselves. I also want to communicate the hard work, organization and implementation of voting security measures that the County Clerk’s offices oversee that make voting possible, even during global health pandemics!

The project is bigger than the course though. We have established social media sites and a working, interactive website. These media forms are designed to engage citizens about the existence and roles of their multiple levels of local governments in their lives. Each medium uses a unique approach to show how local government offices and officials are actively working to improve their respective communities. Each medium also encourages public participation in forums, as well as interactions with members of many communities. We are providing forums that establish new ways to relay ideas and concepts amongst many different communities (different culturally and geographically), between municipalities and citizens alike; an exchange of ideas and concepts that can improve the daily lives of citizens in all communities throughout this state, and beyond.

I grew up in a household that flew the American Flag EVERY day, and I continue to do so as a husband and father with a family of my own. I believe that civic duty is not just a right, but an honor. We are citizens in the longest running democracy on the planet today, and our strength lay within our ability to maintain participation in it. In the April election, my precinct experienced a very low turnout, as most do. My goal in creating this company is to grow a knowledge and appreciation of local government and its roles in society from the ground up. It is my hope that a grass roots educational approach will inspire a growth in civic understanding, interaction, voter turnout and will encourage individuals to run for local elections themselves.