One by one, fourth graders at Franklin Elementary School parted the red and white crepe paper streamers on the voting booth after casting their vote for president and stepped out to get an “I Voted” sticker from the poll worker, teacher Shelly Smith.
The students have spent the past month learning about the election process and government. One wall of their classroom has been devoted to elections and voting. They have been keeping election journals recording their research of the election process, results of the state primaries, candidate qualifications and duties of the president. The fourth graders also studied the conventions and Democratic and Republican presidential and vice presidential candidates.
Smith said the overall theme was to teach her students to be respectful of the candidates and respectful of others’ opinions. “I want my students to remember the election of 2008 50 years from now because it will be very historic. Teaching our students the responsibilities of being an American citizen is everyone’s responsibility,” she said.
After learning about the election process, students had to fill out and turn in a voter registration card and verbally answer several questions before the poll worker would hand them a ballot to mark in pencil.
A few students at a time lined up by the voting booth next to Smith’s classroom. The voting booth was a tall appliance box from the Sears Outlet store. The booth was decorated with stars and flags and the word “vote” on the outside. Sears personnel told Smith hers was the first request for a box to use as a voting booth—they most often get requests for boxes for haunted houses this time of year.
The students who were waiting to vote or who had voted were busy finishing their election journals, which will be their social studies grade for the first semester. They also followed the election coverage on television.
Fourth grader Sakoya Warren said, “If you don’t vote, what’s the point of having a president? If you want change, you need to vote. And, you must follow the elections before voting.”
When the votes were tallied, 15 of the 19 students had cast ballots for Senator Barack Obama. Three voted for Senator John McCain and one voted for another candidate.