(Pavillion, Wyo.) – There is no better way than to teach civics and social studies to elementary students than to observe democracy in action for themselves. That’s exactly what Wind River Elementary Third Grade teachers Mrs. Schooner and Mrs. Leonhardt did with their respective classes this morning.
The two classes motored the few blocks from their school to the Wind River Recreation Center to observe a polling place, witness adults voting and to see how the votes were tabulated.
The kids had plenty of questions for election judge John Wood as they filed into polling the polling place. Wood explained what was happening inside the polling place, showed the students a ballot and let them watch as a voter placed their completed ballot into the voting machine, which counted the votes. Each student also got an “I voted today” sticker.
One of the questions asked by a student was about the candidates on the ballot. “Are we voting for President this year?” the student asked. Wood responded and said the election for President is held every four years and the next election to choose the nation’s leader would be in two years from now. “We are voting for one of our senators and our Representative, along with our Governor and other elected state and local officials,” he said.
“This is what we are studying in class right now, so we decided to come over and see the polling place in action,” Mrs. Schooner said.
