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Political Experience
ON THE INSIDE The latest happenings in our area Page 2
June 16, 2016
Old Forge students learning democracy prepare their speeches.” Response from the students was huge, according to Churla, and on par with the While the nation’s eyes are on a very excitement that comes from the junior active election season, Old Forge elemenand senior high school. tary and high school students spent the “The students loved it; they all wantpast several months talking politics of ed to run,” she said. “They picked one their own. person from each homeroom to run and For the first time, elementary school voted on a president and vice president.” classes from the third through fifth grades Eighth-grade students participating in held class elections for president and vice E-Congress got a different taste of govpresident. Meanwhile, groups of eighth ernment in the lengthy, four-month prograders succeeded in passing nine bills cess of creating bills to submit. A total of in the University of Virginia Center for 2,249 bills were submitted with 464 passPolitics Youth Leadership Initiative Eing the House floor — nine of those were Congress. Old Forge students’ bills. Old Forge School District social studStudents formed into groups of three, ies teacher Jennifer Churla’s eighth-grade From left, front row: Frankie Pero, fourth-grade president; and working together was a learning excivics class participates in the mock con- Michael Pema, fourth-grade vice president; Stone Cordiano, perience in itself, according to Churla. gress every year with more than 5,000 election coorinator; Joey Granko, fifth-grade president; and “I think one of the biggest lessons you other students nationwide to research, Dominick Palma, fifth-grade vice president. Back row: Casey can teach kids at the eighth-grade level draft and vote on bills in a process similar Holzman, sixth-grade president; Emma Aversa, sixth-grade is: can you work collaboratively?” she to the actual U.S. House of Representa- vice president and principal Nathan Barrett. said. “I tell them that once I put them in tives. a lot, so he said he was thinking about having a groups, they’re relying on the person to their left Churla said understanding the political pro- group of class officers and the ability to have a say and their right.” cess is important for students even at an early in things that influence and affect the students.” From a school project to endeavors many age — empowering classes to make changes that At the same time, fourth-grader Stone years later, learning about the process can help impact students through elections helps expose Cordiano had been talking to Barrett about prepare students for the real world. the importance of government. holding elections, which the elementary school Politics have been a hot topic and are only A visit to one of Churla’s classes got principal had never done before. The idea caught on. heating up, and Churla said it’s important to Nathan Barrett thinking about Cordiano also helped plan the election. expose students early to understand the world the issue. “At the third-, fourth- and fifth-grade levels, around them. “Principal Barrett popped in the kids want to have a say in stuff like the caf“Even the younger kids right now understand to one of my classes and started eteria,” Churla said. that this is a very unpopular presidential electalking to some of my seventhOlder students with more experience in tion,” she said. “Many of them were so young graders about what they knew class elections assisted with the excited young- during the last election, but now they understand about government and what er classes. there is a lot of discussion, and they’re starting to they think about the presidential “The seventh-graders helped the third, fourth understand why. You try not to project your own race,” Churla said. “They’re a and fifth grade organize a campaign,” she said. views on them and try to let them develop their very smart group, and they knew “Some of the 10th-grade students helped them own political ideology.” by Tucker Hottes STAFF WRITER
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