Elementary students promote the vote
Tuesday is Election Day and the community and university have been promoting the importance of voting in unique ways. Children from the Promontory School of Expeditionary Learning have been handing out flyers on the Taggart Student Center patio, encouraging college students to vote.
The campaign is part of a “Learning Expedition on Power,” which involves three objectives: “I can define power and evaluate how it relates to me,” “I can identify key events that were important in acquiring and sustaining power in the early United States” and “I can develop a plan to demonstrate my individual power.”
Students from the Promontory School of Expeditionary Learning gathered their own research and conducted interviews to learn more about voting in Cache County. They were required to survey at least five adults, asking why they did or didn’t vote in the last election.
“In our class, the students discovered that most people just forgot to vote,” said Heidi Heil, a teacher at the school, and one of four teachers who facilitated the campaign.
The campaign chose to target college students.
“The majority of young college students are fairly new participants in the voting process,” Heil said. “Therefore, it was a population that we felt could influence by a simple reminder. The ultimate goal was to increase voting among college students.”
Working in groups, students designed flyers with hand-drawn images and words of encouragement like “Rock your vote — it’s going to be heard!”
A survey by Pew Research Center found that about 15 percent of voters are closely following this year’s midterms. According to the U.S. Census Bureau, 18 to 24-year-olds account for about 31.5 percent of the population, making their involvement in politics significant.
Heil said the children grew more outgoing as the campaign progressed.
“At first, our students were quite timid in approaching people,” she said. “By the end, they were so excited to be able to make a difference.”
Heil said her students were well-received by college students.
“One college student engaged a fifth-grader in a conversation about where his current ballot was and that he would be sending it in,” Heil said. “They were even able to stop some students who were flying by on bikes and skateboards. It was a very positive experience.”
Heil insisted that the world is shaped by the choices of those in power and by voting individuals decide who will have that power and represent us.
“Our students are too young to vote, but not too young to make a difference,” Heil said. “They can encourage people of voting age to have their voices be heard. In our classes, we learned of all the sacrifices people made in order for all adults to have the right to vote. We don’t want their sacrifices to be in vain.”
— brennakelly818@gmail.com