Census presentation to Students in TAP’s African American Male Studies Program

Students in TAP’s African American Male Studies Program at William Fleming High School got a lesson in how and why the nation conducts a count of everyone living in the United States.    Linda Edwards-White, partnership specialist with the U.S. Census Bureau, gave a presentation to students on March 19.

            Edwards-White stressed the importance of census data, explaining that the federal government every year allocates more than $400 billion to states and communities based, in part, on census data. Census data is also used to determine locations for retail stores, schools, hospitals, new housing developments and other community facilities, and is used to determine boundaries for state and local legislative and congressional districts.

            Edwards-White ended her presentation by giving students a 10-question quiz. Prizes were awarded to one student who answered all questions correctly and several students who answered 9 of the 10 questions correctly. All students received a backpack, baseball cap and water bottle bearing the Census 2010 logo.