ALBANY, N.Y. (March 10, 2010) – These days, the act of counting means something a little different in the City School District of Albany.

 

March 8-12 is “Census in the Schools” week, and teachers throughout the district are focusing on the U.S. Census’ efforts to count every person living in the United States.

 

Classroom activities vary, but they share a common theme: the census – and being counted -- is important. At right, students in Kelly Madison's eighth-grade social-studies class at William

S. Hackett Middle School track data about U.S.population trends. Below, North Albany Academy third-grader Najaai Johnson scopes out her lines in a play about the census count that she and her classmates performed.

 

The Constitution requires a national census once every 10 years to count the population; communities get shortchanged if the count is too low. They get fewer representatives in Congress, for example. And census information helps determine how more than $400 billion of federal funding is spent in communities on important services and institutions including:

• Schools

• Hospitals 

• Firefighting, police and other emergency services

• Bridges, tunnels and other public-works projects

• Youth centers, job-training centers and more.

Every residence will receive a census form in the mail during the next week. The form consists

of 10 questions and asks you to account for every person living at your address as of April 1 – Census Day. Households have until April 6 to return the forms via mail in the postage-paid envelope that accompanies each form.

 

Those who don’t complete the census form and send back in may receive a home visit from a census taker who will ask the 10 questions in person. For more information, visit 2010census.gov.