Miss Wisconsin Molly McGrath is helping Marathon County officials inspire students to vote. She took her message to several area high schools Wednesday.

McGrath is a very prominent figure among the 18 to 30-year-olds, and she's using that power to influence high schoolers to register to vote through Voter Registration Awareness Day with Kids Voting Wisconsin.

McGrath says she wants them to participate in local elections, not just the presidential one, and she's doing that by relating to the students.

She says, "One of the best things to do is to sit down and just talk to them about what issues matter to them, whether they're going to college and are concerned about tuition or if they're planning on working and are concerned about minimum wage and minimum wage increase."

McGrath says inviting the students to vote makes them part of the process, and local representatives do have a say in issues that affect us. She says the response has been great.

Jim Reynolds, a senior at Wausau East, says, "One of the biggest things that keeps people from voting is not knowing when the elections are.

The next one in Marathon County is April 5. It will include some mayoral races and a vote for the state's superintendent.