Kudos to Millennium Charter Academy for a candidate forum it will be holding next week as part of its efforts to involve students there in the community.

One of the more important lessons young people need to learn is to be engaged in their community, and that means taking an active role in elections. That role, for the average citizen, should at the minimum consist of becoming well-informed, learning about candidates and issues, and casting votes whenever the opportunity presents itself.

Holding mock elections and discussing issues and candidates around election time is not all that unusual for a school, but Millennium has gone the extra mile in extending invitations to local and some state candidates.

Those candidates who are scheduled to participate include N.C. Senate candidate Ric Marshall, N.C. House Rep. Sarah Stevens, as well as county commissioner candidates John Collins, Larry R. Phillips and Paul M. Johnson.

Another pat on the back should be extended to those candidates who will be attending. There likely will be few voters in attendance, so these candidates are going there as a public service, working with the youth, helping Millennium teach this valuable lesson.

Because of the time of day of the forum — 9 a.m. — it’s likely some of the candidates had work-related or other obligations keeping them from participating. In those cases, their non-attendance is understandable.

However, we suspect a few candidates just decided it wasn’t worth the time or effort to show up. For those candidates, we say shame on you — we can think of few things more important for you to be doing than helping to raise the next generation of voters and leaders.