Students Hit the Polls at Prince Charles

Oct 06, 2011

Photo: Courtesy Janet Revell.

In an effort to bring to life the world of provincial politics in Canada, Prince Charles Public School teacher Janet Revell and her grade 5/6 students invited local candidates to their classroom. This is the second year that Revell has brought the Student Vote program to the school in an effort to bring to life what otherwise might be a rather dry and abstract part of the grade five curriculum. On Monday and Tuesday, September 26 & 27, Green Party candidate Nancy Matte, Liberal candidate Bill MacDonald and NDP candidate Dave Parkhill each visited the school. They presented their platforms and took questions from the students. Based on what they heard, the students then chose to represent one of the candidates and took their platforms to other students in the school in preparation for the student vote.

Revell feels that that the best way to create an awareness of provincial politics in students is to get them involved. “The students were thrilled to meet the candidates and I had the sense that they viewed the candidates who came as celebrities. The enthusiasm the candidates showed really rubbed off on the students and definitely provided them with a deeper understanding of the issues and the entire voting process”, she said.

Her students asked a series of questions to each candidate, such as: Why did you go into politics? Will you be raising taxes? How will your party improve education, health care and help to promote a healthy environment? Two groups of students from the class, each representing one of the four candidates, then took what they learned and presented it to the other classrooms in the school. On October 4 the students then cast their votes in a mock poll, complete with two scrutineers, a poll officer and a deputy officer. The Student Vote program has gained a foothold in many local area schools and student polls also took at Land O' Lakes PS in Mountain Grove and at Sharbot Lake Public School.