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November 9, 2008

Students get up-close election education

By Hilary Anderson

CONTRIBUTOR

Cheers rang from the rafters as eighth grade students from Park Ridge’s St. Paul of the Cross School spearheaded an All- American Political Rally. It came with all the bells, whistles, hoopla and work known to any political organization.

Joining in the excitement were the school’s student body, family members, neighbors and local elected officials.

The rally was part of the eighth graders’ curriculum about the U.S. political system. During their two-month effort, they gained a feel of what it was like to be a candidate, member of a political convention and what it takes to organize a campaign.

“Every time there is a national election, we have a two-month unit about the election process that ultimately encompasses the whole school,” said Anne Hoversen, St. Paul of the Cross seventh and eighth grade teacher and social- studies chair. “The level of exhilaration around the school that prepares students for our special campaign, rally and mock election is off the charts.”

St. Paul of the Cross joined many other schools around the archdiocese in holding mock elections.

It all started shortly after school began in late August. While many of the students already knew about the election, Hoversen challenged them to become even more informed. She instructed the students to research the issues. They had to use the Internet, read newspapers, magazines and monitor the news on TV and radio.

“Students only could use unbiased material,” she said. “No editorial or commentaries. It had to be balanced.”

Once the research was done and students knew what the various candidates’ platforms were, they had the opportunity to run for one of the “elective” offices if they so chose.

“We literally held a primary and gave students the chance to select their candidates,” Hoversen said.

Students chosen by peer ballots to represent the actual candidates were:

Democrats: Emma Hogan as Barack Obama and MacKenzie Holland as Joseph Biden. Republicans: Michael Parilla as John McCain and Christina Hyland as Sarah Palin.

Campaign managers and organizers were Lisa Kohlndorfer, David Plouffe, Tom Larocca, Seamus O’Malley and Rick Davis. Kaitlin Andersen, Joseph Burke, Rebecca Klages and Kathleen Russell served as eighth grade student publicity co-chairs for their candidates.

Students discovered it is no small effort or job to run a campaign.

“I learned that you have to get everyone on your side and then interest them in actively participating,” said Hyland. “It’s not as easy as it looks.”

The other “candidates” agreed.

“Being involved taught me more than I ever knew about campaigning,” said Hogan. “You have to keep everyone organized and make sure they represent you in a good way.”

Writing speeches was another challenge. Student candidates wrote not only a speech for their juniorhigh level classmates but also separate ones for the primary and middle grades.

Parilla watched the Republican National Convention to determine the party’s platform. That gave him ideas for his speeches.

“I watched a lot of news programs and realized that some seemed to be more biased than others,” he said. “Sometimes I’d read the Wall Street Journal for information.”

Holland gathered material for her speeches by calling the Obama/Biden headquarters, searching their Internet Web site and watching the debates. It was not uncommon for her to make three drafts of speeches before addressing classmates.

“I never realized how much work goes into speech writing,” she said.

The student candidates even had to find ways to fund their campaigns.

The researching, campaigning and rally ended on Election Day when the entire student body had the opportunity to vote for their favorite candidate.

“Students had to ‘register to vote’ in order to participate in our school election,” said Hoversen.

“They also had to show their ‘voter’s registration card’ before casting their ballot.”

Faculty and students agree this election curriculum was an exciting experience for everyone.

Hoversen praised the efforts of all those involved. “There was never any negative campaigning. They respected each other.”

The election curriculum made a definite impact on students. “I’m not sure I would want to run for an elected office but if I do, I’d be well-prepared for what lies ahead of me,” Hyland said. “I’ll know it would not be as easy as it looks.”

Parilla thinks the experience will help him in the future to look at both sides of an issue. He’s inclined to be politically active.