DENVER -- Sen. John Kerry's campaign returns to Colorado today on an invitation from a local honors civics class.

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Find Out How Teacher's Invitation Brings Kerry To School

Kerry will host a town hall meeting on health care this afternoon at Rangeview High School in Aurora.

Rangeview civics teacher Matt Bergles invited both Kerry and President George W. Bush to his classes, leaving messages on voicemail for both campaigns.

"I just said I'm Matt Bergles, I'm a social studies teacher at Rangeview High School. I teach civics and we're discussing the campaign," said Bergles.

He knew it was a long shot so he was surprised when the Kerry camp took him up on the offer.

"I was thinking nobody will call me back but it wasn't 5 minutes later, a guy named John called and said, 'I'm with the Kerry advance team and I need some information about your school,'" Bergles said.

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By the next morning, the Secret Service was at Rangeview and the wheels were turning for a townhall rally. Bergles said Kerry's visit is a prime opportunity for his classes to study the nonpartisan, technical aspects of the campaign and hopes his determination is a lesson to his students that one person can make a difference.

"Because we live in a country where 50 percent of the people don't vote in most elections, (it's a lesson) that you can make a difference, you can make a phone call, you can run for office yourself, you can vote," Bergles said.

The school, its students, staff and parents are excited about the opportunity.

"This is going to be an impact because, don't forget, these are the future voters, and it's good for them to hear from a presidential candidate," said Rangeview parent Edith Maina, who plans to bring her daughter to the rally.

Bergles hopes his luck continues, and Bush might consider his invite to Rangeview next.

So how can a public school participate in a partisan political rally?

Aurora public schools policy states that "authorization for use of school facilities shall not be considered as an endorsement of, or approval of, the activity."

Kerry's campaign is paying a rental fee for use of the Rangeview gymnasium. Aurora taxpayers are not footing the bill and Aurora Public Schools said if there are any out-of-pocket expenses associated with the rally, the Kerry campaign will pick up the tab.

Kerry is speaking around 3:15 p.m. at the school's gym. He is expected to touch on the issues of healthcare and the war in Iraq just as Bush did when he addressed a crowd at a rally at Coors Amphitheater in Greenwood Village earlier this week.

This is Kerry's fourth visit to the state since June. Four years ago Bush won Republican-leaning Colorado by 9 percentage points but polls show it's much tighter this time around.

Kerry said he wants to make health care affordable for all Americans, and that it's time to elect a president who has a plan for peace in Iraq.

"This president made the decision to go to war without a plan to win the war," Kerry said during a rally in New Mexico Thursday.

Kerry, who has been accused by Republicans of flip-flopping on his stance regarding the war in Iraq, told the crowd the United States should only go to war because it has to, not because it wants to.

Kerry has also addressed the need for health care reform, blaming the Bush administration for millions of Americans losing health care coverage over the past four years.

He said he has plans to create a federal fund to help cover catastrophic health care costs. He said he would fund the program by rolling back Bush's tax cut for the wealthy.

Kerry also said he would allow Americans to buy cheaper prescription drugs in other countries, such as Canada.

Bush has denounced Kerry's health care proposal as a government takeover that would trigger tax hikes, saying Kerry would do nothing to reduce health care costs but shift the burden to the federal government.