Students to participate in mock election

Published 5:00 am Monday, October 22, 2007

High Schools across the county will be participating in astatewide effort at the end of the month to encourage students tofulfill their civic duties later in life.

The Promote the Vote Initiative is scheduled statewide beginningOct. 29, and principals here say they have tentatively scheduled tohold their vote on Tuesday, Oct. 30, to make it more realistic.Elections are held on the first Tuesday of the month.

The mock election is typically a strong indicator of how voterswill cast their ballots in the Nov. 6 general election, principalssaid.

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“You teach civic duty. One of the most important freedoms andrights we have is to vote,” said Enterprise Attendance Centerprincipal Shannon Eubanks. “We try to instill in the students notonly to vote, but to make informed choices, to question the eventsin the world around them and how they relate to them.”

Eubanks said classes from seventh grade to high school seniorswill participate in the program.

Brookhaven High School will also see participation from all ofits upper grade students.

“We are registered and we are registered for every child here,not just senior government,” said principal Susan Chapman. “I thinkit’s an outstanding program.”

Students at BHS begin learning about the governmental processand citizenship as freshman during Mississippi Studies, shesaid.

“You want to teach children what their responsibilities as acitizen are,” Chapman said. “They hear their parents talk aboutcandidates, see the news and begin to grasp the importance ofeducation, economics and other topics. Hopefully, we’ll have thosediscussions in our classes.”

Eubanks agreed.

“The easiest way to get their attention is to get them active inthe process so the relevance of the events become more important tothem,” he said.

Wayne Rogers, principal at Loyd Star Attendance Center, said hisexperience at Gulf Coast schools have shown him younger studentstend to be less understanding of some the complex issuessurrounding some elections and the difference between the popularvote and electoral college vote. He intends to limit the program tojuniors and seniors.

“I may step down a little and add the sophomores,” he said.”I’ve found the lower you go the less they understand the processand how it works.”

Juniors and seniors, however, seem to be very aware of thecontroversial issues and the stakes of a properly cast ballot, hesaid.

“You would be surprised at the high school juniors and seniorswho do keep up with the state and national issues,” Rogerssaid.

More than 70,000 students across Mississippi have beenregistered by their schools to participate in the Promote the VoteInitiative.

The secretary of state’s office organizes the event, whichincludes a voter education curriculum, statewide mock election,student competitions and voter registration.