Indianapolis students participate in mock elections and learn civic responsibility – Indianapolis News | Weather Indiana | Indiana traffic

This story was originally published October 30, 2024, by Chalkbeat. Sign up for their newsletters at ckbe.at/newsletters

As “The Star Spangled Banner” played, students from Monica Poncé’s class cast their votes for the U.S. president in a mock election. But this democratic process had its own look and feel.

Each student sat in front of a projection screen showing portraits of the candidates. Poncé held a few buttons. She pressed the blue button so the students could hear “I’m Kamala Harris” in the candidate’s voice. Next was the red one who said in his voice, “I am Donald Trump.” Then it was the student’s turn.

Some students made their choice by pressing the button. One touched sensory pads that matched the candidates. Another indicated his choice between a plastic toy donkey and an elephant. Two chose it by focusing their gaze on one of the candidates on the screen.

“Thanks, that’s a good choice,” Poncé said, regardless of the student’s choice. Together they marked the paper ballot and placed it in the cardboard ballot box.

Each of the seven students in her middle school class at the RISE Learning Center has physical, cognitive and communication disabilities, and a majority of the students also need services for those who are blind or visually impaired. They are all non-verbal and are working toward a certificate of completion rather than a degree through the Mobility Opportunities through Education – or MOVE – program.

They are among thousands of students in Indiana participate in mock elections while their teachers use the controversial 2024 presidential election to teach the importance of voting, civic engagement and democracy.

Some vote for their class president, or for the choice between ice cream or a pizza party. Others study the real 2024 presidential candidates and historical examples of activism and voter suppression.

What they have in common is an emphasis on the power of a vote during presidential elections The involvement of young people can play an important role in the results.

Poncé says that because her students cannot say what they want or like, things are often done for them.

“If I can give them a choice, I want to give them the opportunity to have a say in what they do,” she said.

RISE, on the south side of Indianapolis, describes itself as “a cooperative special education program.” It serves students from Beech Grove City Schools, MSD of Decatur Township and Perry Township Schools, as well as a few from Johnson County schools.

“I teach our students to be active members of the community,” Poncé said of her students, who range in age from 15 to 22. “They can be dismissed by the community because they have no thoughts or opinions because they are non-verbal.”

One of their electoral decisions was choosing between blue and black markers to sign the fake voter registration cards they created earlier in the week.

Voter registration is a formal document, and formal documents are filled out in blue or black ink, Poncé told them as she and the teaching assistants held up markers to each student.

Earlier in the lesson, Poncé discussed with the students the “wh-words” of the presidential elections: what, when and who. She also included the colors and symbols of the political parties.

Poncé told them that they would wait their turn to vote because the lines at a polling station are sometimes long. And the results take time, she said, so they wouldn’t know who won the class elections until later in the day.

Two of the students are old enough to actually vote. Poncé said when her students turn 18, one of the many resources she shares with families and caregivers is information about registering to vote and where polling places are.

“We get to choose who we want to run the country,” she told the class.

A school studies voter participation and activism

At Sankofa School of Success, an Innovation Network school in Indianapolis Public Schools, Treasure Jones first graders came up with the qualities they want to see in the next school president.

Someone who uses kind words and actions. Someone who works hard, is helpful and happy.

They then gathered around Jones as she read from a book titled “V is for Voting.” She reminds them of an earlier lesson about voter suppression – they agreed that it wouldn’t be fair for Mrs. Jones to stop someone from voting in the school elections just because he or she has bad grades.

“What is a campaign?” a student asked in the middle of the book.

“These are all things you do to convince people to vote for you,” Jones said.

Jones also reminded them why voting is important to her: “It’s important to me that potholes are filled. It is important to me because I want to teach you that you have safe schools.”

She also told her class why she votes and attends school board meetings.

At Sankofa, an elementary school in the Martindale-Brightwood neighborhood, voting is a month-long schoolwide project, with different lessons at each grade level exploring voter participation, activism and more. A mock election on November 5 – in which fifth graders stand as candidates and sixth graders serve as the electoral college – will complete the project.

There are also connections to the real world, as students will also vote for the presidential candidates during a mock election.

“The little ones bring a different energy,” said Eldridge Chism, the school’s assistant principal.

In Danita Logwood’s second grade, students design posters specifically to encourage their parents and older siblings to vote. Without voting, you lose the opportunity to make changes and influence the way things are done, Logwood said.

Here’s how she told it to the second graders: If the class is on recess in the playground, but you wanted to go to the courtyard, you might be upset, but did you raise your hand and vote when you had the chance?

Logwood emphasized the importance of voting in another exercise: She described voting requirements in different periods of American history and then asked students to stand up when they met the requirements. In the beginning, only white male landowners could vote – so no one in the class could run for office.

Fifth-grade teacher Ashley Helman said the idea for the mock election came from the students themselves, who heard about the presidential election at home and then came into the classroom and asked questions. The question was often about who the teachers themselves would vote for.

Helman told them: no, they cannot share those opinions as teachers. They should ask their parents.

“What I can do is educate you on the process and how it works,” Helman said.

How will Americans feel after Election Day?

At Enlace Academy, another Innovation Network school within IPS, sixth-grader William Ulin accepted his defeat with grace.

He and a table of his classmates represented the state of Florida during an Electoral College class just twelve days before Election Day. The choices: an ice cream party versus a pizza party.

As a hypothetical Florida resident, William voted for pizza. But his classmates changed the state in favor of ice cream. In the end, the classroom – the entire country – made ice cream the winner.

The activity was the latest in a series of lessons on the election process that the elementary school in the International Marketplace neighborhood on the city’s west side had planned for its middle school students in October.

The lessons – taught during the school’s weekly “community meetings” that help build community and character – align with the school’s core values ​​of citizenship and integrity. Students learned about political issues and how to identify reliable news sources.

At an open house two weeks before Election Day, eighth-graders also gave presentations on issues important to them and explored how both presidential candidates would impact the topic.

As sixth-grade math teacher Elise Correa counted the electoral votes for ice cream and pizza, principal Stephanie Campos reflected with the students.

“How do you think Americans will feel after Election Day?” she said. “Someone’s going to be mad, right?”

Campos asked students how they would react if their chosen candidate lost. Madeline Corado pondered the question.

“Be happy for them?” she asked.

“There’s only so much you can control, right?” Campos said. “But you can just keep going.”

Aleksandra Appleton covers Indiana education policy and writes about K-12 schools across the state. Contact her at [email protected].

Amelia Pak-Harvey covers schools in Indianapolis and Marion County for Chalkbeat Indiana. Contact Amelia at [email protected].

MJ Slaby oversees Chalkbeat Indiana’s reporting as bureau chief. Contact MJ at [email protected].

Chalkbeat is a nonprofit news organization that covers public education.