There are many that argue, “Millennials don’t care about politics.” The students at The Linsly School would disagree. The AP United States Government class at Linsly, led by Mr. Brubaker, recently conducted a mock election to find out who would be president if Linsly were to decide. The candidates in the running were Secretary Hillary Clinton, Donald Trump, Dr. Jill Stein, and Governor Gary Johnson.
Campaigning began on October 24th with a vigor that could compete with that of a real presidential election. A small group of AP Government students was assigned to each candidate to campaign for that person. Soon, every available inch of the hallways, library, and classrooms was soon covered in posters. Even those who didn’t quite like the candidate they were assigned to enthusiastically encouraged others to vote for their respective candidate. The competitive spirit among the students running campaigns kept the election lively and interesting.
Those behind the scenes were just as integral in making this mock election run smoothly. There were voter registrars and vote counters. The vote registrars created forms and made decisions on how voters would identify themselves when voting. The vote counters held, perhaps, the most important job in the election which was ensuring the voice of the student body at Linsly was accurately represented in their votes.
During the campaign week, on October 27th, the AP class held a mock forum, in which, the candidates were each represented by a student at Linsly. Donald Trump was characterized by junior Logan Bisbocci. Secretary Clinton was represented fairly accurately by junior Sydney West. Governor Johnson was played enthusiastically by junior Jack Fencl. Finally played by senior Lucretia Schumate, was Dr. Stein. Students representing each candidate gave a five minute stump speech. After their speech, each candidate was given a short time to refute any claims made by their fellow candidates. The forum was moderated by senior Oleg Smirnov. This forum was integral in helping Linsly students finalize their choices for president before the following Monday when they would vote.
When the greatly anticipated election day finally came, almost all of the 150 upper school students who “registered”, voted. All went well and now the student body must anxiously await the results which will be announced in the coming week. The only question left: Who did Linsly elect as president?
Project Vote Nationwide Results
Linsly Project Vote Debate Photos
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