School elections mirror local returns

As Americans across the country flocked to polls in record numbers, Neelyville R-IV and Twin Rivers R-X students took to their own polls.

Students at Fisk attended an assembly, where student council members dressed as each candidate to give a speech about their policies. The students then went to polling locations on campus to vote.

“I think it’s important for some of these kids,” Fisk Principal Leeann Mann said. “I want them to participate. The teachers would say ‘I want them to know they need to be able to use their vote.’ Some of their parents don’t vote, so they need to know that.”

Mann said student council members planned the event to encourage student participation and awareness of the civil process.

Fisk students voted overwhelmingly for President Donald Trump, with 141 votes to former Vice President Joe Biden’s 12.

This parallels the votes cast in the Fisk precinct, where Trump received 403 votes to Biden’s 69.

The students earlier put in requests for propositions to be on the ballot.

Student council members went through the suggestions to ultimately pick three to be on the ballot, a system designed to match legislators reviewing citizen submissions for propositions,

The approved propositions related to more clubs, extra recess time one day a month and longer accelerated reader (AR) time during the day.

Additional clubs and extra recess passed easily with 78 to 16 and 96 to five respectively.

However, the proposition on longer AR time failed in a close race with 53 to 41 votes.

Mann said administration will implement the propositions passed.

“That’s how change comes about,” she said.

Meanwhile, at Neelyville, students went to polling locations in the morning, but leading up to the day, social studies teachers talked to students about why the country has elections and what the process looks like.

Neelyville Elementary Principal Heather Black said the goal of hosting a mock election is to educate students.

“It’s all about the education here,” she said. “A lot of times, you know, it’s our job to teach them why we have an election; what does the process look like and things like that.

“That’s what we focused on. It wasn’t about who won and who lost. It was more about the process.”

They gave students a ballot with the Republican, Democrat, Libertarian and Green Party candidates, along with photos of each.

At the elementary level, 180 students voted for Trump, 10 for Biden, four Libertarian and five Green.

At the high school, 91% of students voted for Trump and 9% for Biden.

This also parallels how voting went at the Neelyville precinct, where Trump received 283 votes to Biden’s 48.

“I think the kids enjoyed it,” Black said. “They’ve learned a lot about it. Each (social studies) teacher did something more in the classroom to extend the lesson, and this was kind of like the culminating activity.”

The school did a virtual call to announce the results.