Students don’t know the names of the candidates, just their positions.
By: Jill Matthews
WEST WINDSOR For students at Village School, voting for president of the United States isn’t just about a popularity contest.
At least that’s the lesson staff at the school are trying to instill during a school-wide mock presidential election.
The election is being run using an anonymous candidate format, where seven real presidential candidates are presented to students not by their name or political party affiliation, but by their views on various political issues. The candidates are labeled by number and were picked to represent a wide range of views.
Students, staff and interested parents will vote in the mock election on Tuesday.
"Every year, people complain about a lack of choice, and I believe it’s because people don’t widen" their spectrum of choices, said James Eng, fourth-grade teacher at the school.
The point of the anonymous candidates, he said, is to let students make a decision based on where the candidates stand on particular issues and not because of their party affiliation or name identification.
While students still try to figure out which candidate is which, the most important part of this mock election, he said, is to teach them to critically analyze information that is given to them and not just accept it as is.
The students, like fifth-grader Ella Alter, have been discussing the issues, and the candidates’ stance on the issues, in their classes for the past month.
This gives kids, who are not allowed to legally vote, a chance to express their opinions, Ella said. And it has encouraged students to learn more about the issues and the voting process and to watch the news more often, she said.
"This makes more people get more interested (in the elections)," said Caroline Kellner, also a fifth-grade student. Students discuss the issues with each other during class time and sometimes get into debates, she said.
Ella, Caroline and fellow fifth-grader Kaitlin Shuell even debated the issues ranging from whether drilling for oil in Alaska should be allowed to what kind of gun-control measures should be implemented during the interview for this article.
"Some people don’t really pay attention and vote for who is most popular," said Kaitlin. But, she said, now the students are informed about the issues.
Reflecting the real-life voting experience, students had to register to vote in the school elections. The ballot, which even includes a public question on whether sugar-based cafeteria snacks should be available only two days a week, asks students to vote for the anonymous candidate of their choice and also asks them to write in their choice of president by name.
Mr. Eng said he planned to analyze the results in the presidential choice questions once the election is over. He predicted there would be a big difference in votes between who students voted for by name and who they voted for when considering anonymous candidates.
Classroom Close-Up, a show produced by the New Jersey Education Association and New Jersey Network Public Television, will air a story about the Village School mock elections during select times in January, February and March.
More information is available at www.west-windsor-plainsboro.k12.nj.us.