There were no long lines, no issues with voting machines, not even any squabbling over the ballot. Instead, students participating in Ulla F. Muller Elementary’s mock election Wednesday simply filed quietly into the school’s cafeteria, dropped their papers into the ballot box, talked briefly about who they voted for and went back to class.
According to Muller principal Symra Dee Brown, all of the school’s more than 400 students participated in the mock election and while some may have been too young to know who they were voting for, all were informed enough to talk about the importance of the voting process.
“We need people who are going to help make the Virgin Islands a better place,” Muller sixth grader Tamara Petes said after casting her vote. “There’s a lot of killing, there are a lot of homeless people in the street and those are big things for us as young people. We need it to be better out there.”
Brown said Wednesday that the students have also been working with their teachers and parents on understanding who the candidates are, what they stand for, and why it is important to vote.
“We sent home a letter to parents this week so they could have the conversation at home with the children about the importance of exercising their right to vote,” Brown explained. “We are interested in preparing them for the global society and this process, well, we need them to know how critical it is.”
Teachers also worked with students on researching the candidates.
“We talked to the students about what the adults in the community will be doing on voting day and who will be running for office,” Muller third grade teacher Eloise Stephens said Wednesday. “My students had to research the ones that they were thinking about voting for and then last night, they talked to their parents about the process so they knew what to do, and what their responsibility is as voters in the community. And I think this went well. I think the students were excited to do something they see the adults in their lives doing.”
According to the results, Muller students voted in favor of:
Delegate to Congress – Stacey Plaskett
Governor – Donna Christensen and Basil Ottley
Senator-At-Large – Ronnie Jones
St. Thomas Senate – Myron Jackson, Janette Millin-Young, Jean Forde, Tregenza Roach, Marvin Blyden, Steven “Smokey” Frett and Lawrence “Recon” Olive
Wednesday was also voting day at Charlotte Amalie High School, where over the past two months students have learned about the three branches of government in their social studies classes. While learning about the democratic process, the students also researched each of the local candidates, their platforms and “engaged in debates about the issues affecting the community,” according to a statement from CAHS principal Stephan Jurgen.
“Each grade level also held elections, where candidates ran full campaigns and students elected their own class officers,” Jurgen added. “The culminating activities in this process occurred this week with our senatorial and gubernatorial forums on Tuesday, followed by mock elections today.”
Jurgen said the election helps prepare students for the “real world” and gets them thinking about electing leaders that are ready to “tackle the myriad issues” that citizens in both the local and global society face.
According to the results, CAHS students voted in favor of:
Delegate to Congress – Stacey Plaskett
Governor – Donna Christensen and Basil Ottley
Senator-At-Large – Almando “Rocky” Liburd
St. Thomas – Myron Jackson, Janette Millin-Young, Jean Forde, Clifford Graham, Marvin Blyden, Donald “Ducks” Cole and Lawrence “Recon” Olive.
