St. Margaret’s Senior Corbin Brooks, a day student from Essex County, thinks it’s important for the U.S. president to be able to relate to people but also possess the composure and knowledge to tackle problems. Sophomore Hallie Smith says the president should be able to make decisions under pressure, do what is right for the people, and keep American morals and needs in mind while also helping other countries.
St. Margaret’s students and faculty chose the candidates that best suited their ideals as they cast their ballots in a mock election on Oct. 30. But this was just the last step in a simulated election process that included voter registration, a debate and an electoral college.
Students and faculty members that registered received voter cards from their precincts and headed to the polls. Sen. Barrack Obama won the popular vote by one vote. The electoral vote was 15-6 in Obama’s favor. Obama won the popular vote in two precincts by just one vote. He received all of the electoral votes in those precincts, which set up his landslide victory in the Electoral College.
“I am very proud of the work done by the History Department at St. Margaret’s School,” History Teacher Larry Foulk said. “It was a great deal of work creating precincts, assigning electoral votes, registering voters, and preparing for the mock election, but so worth it to witness students’ reactions to the results.
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There were so many teachable moments during this event; and perhaps none better than the one about the power of one vote!”
Brooks and Smith both represented candidates during the mock presidential debate. The students spent time researching their candidates’ views on the Internet, reading the news and watching the real debates.
“I learned so much about how elections actually work and what role the electoral college plays,” Smith said. “I also learned about each of the candidates’ policies.”
A recent election poll conducted by the National Coalition of Girls Schools found that 98 percent of the students polled were either moderately or very interested in this year’s election. While a high percentage of the schools participated in election-related activities in the classroom, only 18 percent of the students polled said their school held a mock election.
“We took the classroom instruction and turned it into a real event where students could take their knowledge and apply it,” Head of School Margaret Broad said. “There was a great deal of excitement surrounding the entire process and it’s interesting that our mock election so closely simulated the real election.”
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