By CONNIE TABBERT
Editor
WHITEWATER REGION (Beachburg) – Beachburg Public School hosted a municipal election and the top two results were the same as the official election — Mike Moore for mayor and Cathy Regier for reeve.
However, there was a difference in who the councillors were. The students elected three of the five who were officially elected.
For the students, councillors are Neil Nicholson, Jim Butterworth, Dave Mackay, Donna Burns and Charlene Jackson.
Officially, the five councillors are Neil Nicholson, Chris Olmstead, Charlene Jackson, Daryl McLaughlin and Dave Mackay.
Voting day was Friday, Oct. 19 in the gymnasium. Students in Grades 4 to 8 were allowed to vote, said teacher Anne Bromley. The election was organized by a small group of her Grade 5 students who volunteered for the extra work, she said. The participating students were Avery Broome, Chase Martin, Lily Harrison, Skylar Moke and Seth Pilgrim.
Avery, who was deputy-returning officer, was quite excited to tell her story of meeting Hal Johnson, the current mayor of Whitewater Region, at Cobden’s Taste of the Valley.
“He shook my hand and said, ‘It’s an honour for me that you are interested in this’.”
She said classmates sent emails to each of the council candidates asking they list five reasons why they should vote for them.
Then, using the responses, as well as articles on some of the candidates published in the Whitewater News, a one-page article about each of the candidates was created, read aloud to those students who could vote during a school assembly, and then posted to the wall outside the gymnasium.
On election day, Oct. 19 the gymnasium at the school was changed into a polling station.
While Avery admitted she knew Mr. Moore, because he is a custodian at the school, it doesn’t mean she voted for him.
“I read the pages (posted on the wall) and that helped me decide who to vote for,” she said, adding, “I voted for what I read.”
As the student scrutineers, deputy-returning officers and poll clerks did their jobs of ensuring the vote went smoothly, teacher Ms. Bromley was overseeing everything.
Government is part of the Grade 5 curriculum, so what better way to learn than to participate in the democratic process of voting, she said.
Since not all the students were needed for the event, she asked who wanted to participate.
Ms. Bromley said the students were enthusiastic about learning what happens during an election, and also about learning how to vote.
“I’m so excited they are excited,” she said. “They sat down and did the research, read the papers, discussed the candidates.
“They were making the connection to council, at home and at school.”
She noted while the students don’t realize the full extent of what a council does, they did learn that their parks and playgrounds, arenas, roads and schools are all part of what they are in charge of.
While not all the students discussed what they were doing at home, Ms. Bromley said a few of them did.
“A good number of them talked to their parents,” she said. “Some were stressing over who they should vote for.”
Ms. Bromley was also hopeful that by holding this election and getting the students involved, this would create an interest at home in the real election.
For just over an hour on election day, the students checked to make sure the ballots were as they should be prior to each student voting, that polling stations were kept clean and neat with a sharpened pencil, that students remained a respectful distance away as each person voted and that as each student put their ballot into the slot in the top of the box, it was properly initialled.
When the allotted time for the voting was up, the gymnasium was closed off to everyone except those involved in the election.
They took the time to count the number of people who had voted, then the ballots themselves, and remained at it until it was completed, even if there were a few mistakes made along the way. But, with the help of Ms. Bromley and the Student Vote Election Manual, the counting was completed and the winners determined.
Ms. Bromley noted the students involved in the election process were sworn to secrecy until the real election had taken place.
