Eighth-grade students at the Westtown School decided to redraw Pennsylvania’s congressional map with the help of their math teacher, Jon Kimmel, writes Michael Rellahan for the Daily Local News.

The students took on the task after they started looking at the oddly shaped districts on the current map. To get a better picture of how the borders were created, the students began studying the Census and how it relates to redistricting and gerrymandering.

“They were thrilled to realize that by patiently sweating the details of redistricting that they could prove the current system was ridiculously flawed,” said Kimmel.

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To come up with a solution, the students incorporated the criteria that needs to be followed when creating the districts. These include having similar population numbers, being one contiguous whole, and making each district as compact as possible.

Kimmel said that, in fewer than 10 classes, the students managed to create eight different redistricting maps.

“If the state Legislature cannot figure out how to represent its citizens, I know some great 14-year-olds who already have,” said Kimmel.

Read more about the Westtown School in the Daily Local News here.

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