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Students at Junior High School 189 in Flushing, Queens are learning all about the U.S. Census -- a lesson they're told to reteach at the dinner table.

"The census is really important because it helps a lot of things. It shows how much funding we need for our state and our city and it shows how much representatives we need. So I think I have to help my mom fill it out because she doesn't know English and I have to help translate for her," said JHS 189 student Henajin Joung.

The U.S. Census Bureau developed lesson plans and activities for every age group, from picture books about counting family members to math lessons on statistical inference. Known as the Census in the Schools Program, it's geared toward schools in the so-called "hard-to-count" neighborhoods across the country. New York is a perfect fit, with 1.1 million school children and a history of low census participation.

"Our public schools have a powerful role to play in the census as well. And that's one of the reasons we are here today, to encourage schools across the five boroughs to engage students with lessons about the history of the census and also to teach them about how information collected in the census shapes our city's future," said Mayor Michael Bloomberg.

"When they get the Census form, the kids actually translate it for their parents and they are very helpful and we are trying to work with the kids and make them understand, if you aren't counted you can't be heard," said JHS 189 PTA President Avtar Ganju.

There is a long and somewhat controversial history of public schools being used to reach immigrant families through their children. But officials say this is more of a public service announcement, that also happens to be a good lesson topic.

"We made it part of social studies because it was a natural fit but the other thing I really impressed upon everyone was to make it a part of every subject area. Mathematics -- it's a natural fit. You are counting people, you are counting percentages, you are deciding how the numbers skew votes, how our councilmen are selected, how many people represent us when there is a presidential election," said JHS 189 Principal Cindy Diaz-Burgos.

So as students across the city learn about math, history and democracy, they're also being recruited for the frontlines of the 2010 U.S. Census outreach effort.