CLEVELAND — High school students from the Cleveland Metropolitan School District are getting hands-on with local and state politics through a program called Civics 2.0.

The district’s student advisory group recently hosted a conversation between the candidates for Cuyahoga County prosecutor at Collinwood High School.

Members of the Civics 2.0 project wrote to the candidates to invite them to be a part of the discussion, asked the candidates questions during the debate and even kept time to make sure the speakers had equal time to speak.

Kishae Thomas is a member of the Civics 2.0 project and said she believes it is helping her prepare for life after high school by providing her with advanced knowledge of state and local government.

“I’ve seen a lot of stuff that is going on in my community and I just wanted to know how I can help,” Thomas explained. “When we get older, it is going to be our responsibility to go out there and vote and actually know who is being put into the office and who is making the decisions.”

Antoinette McCall is Collinwood High School’s Civics 2.0 adviser. She said her focus is on helping her students understand the democratic process and raise awareness about gun violence.

“One of the slogans is we don’t just learn civics, we experience it and that is so important because you don’t want students to just read about what is in a textbook. As far as being able to make change, you want them to have opportunities to go hear judges, to go to court cases, to see both sides of the prosecution and the defense,” McCall said. “For them to be at an event like this, where they are actually able to ask the candidates questions about issues that concern them.”

The Civics 2.0 students have a lot in store for the rest of the school year, including a gun reduction panel they are hosting in April.