Bedford Elementary School Students Exercise Their Right to Vote

By Linda White

Both Davis and Lane students held elections last week. Bedford’s younger students voted on ‘ballot questions’ important to their lives at school, and grades 3-5 marked their ballots for president.

Davis School

Bedford’s kindergarten, first, and second grade students were clearly not old enough to vote in this year’s presidential election. Age, however, was not an impediment at their Davis polling site. It was a wonderful opportunity for students to demonstrate their political preferences for a variety of platform issues that were of interest to them.

In both schools, all reports indicated an election process that was civil in nature, animated and respectful. Congratulations to everyone who participated.

Davis School principal Beth Benoit explained, “Many of our students mentioned hearing about this year’s presidential campaigns, and we wanted to find a way for our students to make some meaningful connections to this major event. Our goals for students during this election season was to understand that one way to see change happen is to share your opinion through voting. We also want children to understand that everyone has a right to an opinion and everyone’s opinion matters.”

Colorful campaign posters covered many Davis School walls this week, and the level of enthusiasm was palpable as classrooms debated the merits of each key issue. The hot ballot topics included vote for crazy hat/hair day or pick your table at lunch for the day. Ballots and special ballot booths were created by Davis School teacher Susan Nocera and her second grade students. The Early Voting option allowed the students to vote on Monday, November 7. Students patiently awaited the outcome.

On Wednesday, ballot tallying was done by nine second grade students using iPads under the supervision of Principal Benoit so the results could be seen live in each classroom. The ballot option with the most votes was Pick Your Table for Lunch on Friday, November 18 with 353 votes. Crazy Hair/Hat Day came in second with 218 votes. All sources reported the election process was civil in nature, animated and respectful.  Congratulations to all Davis students who exercised their right to vote in this special election!

Lane School

Third, fourth, and fifth grade students at Lane School also took advantage of the Early Voting option and cast their ballots for president on Monday, November 7. The gymnasium was decorated with a festive archway of red, white, and blue balloons donated by BEST.

The Lane ballot was limited to only the presidential race. Election results included both the popular as well as the electoral count. Students voted by classroom assignment for the electoral count. Hillary Clinton defeated Donald Trump in both the popular as well as electoral count.