The Rookery

Voting went very smoothly today with over 98% of registered voters turning out to vote.  Students manned the polls all day long and then a team of election judges counted the votes…(audio file of drum roll):

59.5% of votes went to Crecentia Alata of the Poligourds and 41.5% of the vote went to Ovi Pepinopsis of the Freegourds.

We gathered in the gym late this afternoon for the candidates' concession and acceptance speeches.  It was important to us as teachers that students see a model of how to lose and win civilly.

We were very impressed with the students' work in this theme.  They all worked very hard to understand complex issues.  They debated each other with grace and civility.  Perhaps most importantly, many students changed their minds several times as they learned more and re-considered their original positions.  That flexibility of thinking will serve them well as they mature as thinkers.

At the end of our speeches, we each thanked the students for their hard work and passion.  We wanted to make sure how thrilled we are that these thoughtful, civil young citizens will become voters in just seven or eight years.  We hope they will bring the spirit they've shown in this election into their civic life.

We also continued our election math work today – ask your child what they think of the electoral college!  We also tried to visualize 2,000,000 base 10 blocks (those wooden cubes, sticks, and flats that show place value).  That quantity is made by two cubic meters of 1 centimeter cubes.  Why?  Well, the Fraken/Coleman senate race was won by about 200 votes out of 2.2 million.  Seeing that tiny quantity next to the meter cubes really helps kids understand why their vote is important.