Submitted article
Elections in the United States provide citizens the opportunity to exercise their right to vote and have their voices heard at all levels of government. Many school districts use the elections as an opportunity to teach students about their rights and responsibilities as citizens.
Third grade students at Galion Intermediate School spent the afternoon of Nov. 4 participating in a mock election. Students voted for Governor and Lieutenant Governor, United States Congressman and State Representative. Also on the student ballots were the Pioneer Career and Technology Center Levy and the Crawford County Council on Aging Levy.
“During the first nine weeks, students engaged in lessons that support grade level Social Studies standards,” third grade teacher Lesley Buzza said. “In addition, students also studied the structure of the federal government for Constitution Day.”
Prior to the mock election, students took home a modified Crawford County ballot for the purpose of engaging their parents in discussions about local offices and issues. Students also read a lesson from their Social Studies text to their parents that addressed voting as both a right and responsibility.
“The biggest impact on the students was the real life excitement of having a voice,” third grade teacher Kim Chandler said “After submitting their electronic vote, students were awarded a badge that stated ‘I Voted’.”
Votes were calculated using electronic ballots created by Buzza on the Google Docs platform. Students utilized their individual iPads to cast their votes in the mock election.
“It was satisfying to implement the iPads in a manner that almost completely imitated the real life election experience,” Chandler said. “Students were further engaged in the election by checking real results to see if the candidates and issues they voted for came out on top.”
Results for the mock election mirrored those of the real election. Sixty percent of the students voted for John Kasich and Mary Taylor in the Governor’s race. Fifty-nine percent voted for Jeff McClain for State Representative, and 61 percent voted for Jim Jordan to retain his seat as representative to the United States Congress. The Pioneer Career and Technology Center received 66 percent of the vote supporting their levy, while 72 percent voted favorably for the Crawford County Council on Aging Levy.
“I want to commend the third grade teachers for engaging their students in the election process, and using this opportunity to teach our students about their rights and responsibilities as United States citizens,” Superintendent Mark Stefanik said. “Students utilizing iPads to cast their ballots is just one of many examples of the effective use of the One-to-One computer program in the Galion City School District.”
For more information about the third grade mock elections, contact third grade teachers Angie Brocwell, Lesley Buzza or Kim Chandler at 419-468-3676.