My son made the high school varsity team as a freshman. This is mostly because he is 6 feet, 2 inches — and when you are that tall, you make the basketball team. He has a long way to go knowing where he’s supposed to be on the court at any given moment, but he’s getting there. When he got his jersey, he ran into the house and yelled “I’m Dillon Jones!!!” My immediate response was, “No, you’re not, but why are you saying that?” He was number 2. He knew who Jones was because I took him to Weber State basketball games.

My daughter creates digital art and is currently taking an AP art class. As part of her assignment, she had to submit a piece to a show at the Eccles Art Center. Her piece was selected and our family went to see it on display in the upstairs hallway. While there, we looked at every piece of art from high school students around the region. My daughter talked about how she remembered having a Girl Scouts meeting there when she was young because I took the girls there.

You may be wondering why I’m starting this piece with three seemingly unrelated stories about my family, but they’re part of a culture that my husband and I are committed to fostering in the youth that come into our lives, whether students or Girl Scouts or our own children: a culture of showing up for community events and actively taking advantage of the assets your local community has to offer. For the record, I would very much prefer to have a conversation about basketball than about independent films or art, but that’s the beauty of my community. I can do all of them and enjoy some of them more.

If you were unaware that Weber State has another NBA up-and-comer, first-round draft pick playing for the Oklahoma City Thunder, shame on you. If you were unaware that Utah hosts a world-class independent film festival, shame on you. If you were unaware there was an Eccles Art Center in Ogden, also, shame on you. My son and I watch Jones’ games, when he’s in them, and we talk about the box score to see how he’s doing. My son knew he had the same number as Jones because we went to many Weber State games. My husband’s students loved the movie they got to see and I watched a number of them come up to him at a recent event to talk about what they learned. And while I really had no idea what quite a bit of the art was doing, my family and I looked at every piece at that Eccles art show and talked about it. I learned quite a bit.

In kindergarten, both my children drew maps of their communities; I remember walking to see where the parks were. I loved this early civic engagement assignment. What we were teaching them was how to know what’s available to you in your community. People who are good neighbors are people who know the community assets. They are the people who attend games and films and art shows. As adults, I wish I could require you all to draw a map of the Ogden community and note where things are. Take your children to the parks and to the games, and when they’re older, take them to the films and the art shows.

I was told by someone that my lane for these pieces was politics, but I want to push back and say that civic engagement is so much more than political engagement. Do I care if you vote? Absolutely not. I care so much less about that than I care if you know there’s a Division I basketball team up at Weber State and that you attend their games. We need to dig in and have more to talk about than the latest Trump executive order or we will never solve our wicked problems. If you see me out in the wild, talk to me about any Ogden or Utah community asset, and I will be ready.

Leah Murray is a Brady Presidential Distinguished Professor of Political Science and the director of the Olene S. Walker Institute of Politics & Public Service at Weber State University. This commentary is provided through a partnership with Weber State. The views expressed by the author do not necessarily represent the institutional values or positions of the university.