An election victory to learn from

Mike Swanson

Christy Stover’s fifth-grade class at College View Elementary elected

its president Friday and voters found out what branch of classroom

government they’ll work for this week.

Heather Ross, 9, presented her case in less than a minute, making

a confident speech that detailed her qualifications for the esteemed

position among seven other candidates.

Heather eagerly eyed Principal Susan Kemp as Kemp tallied the

votes, then clenched her fists in victory after hearing she’d won by

two votes.

“I plan to help a lot of people if they need any help, including

the teacher,” Heather said. “I’ll never be late and I’ll always pull

the projector down if it needs to be done.”

She added that she has plenty of experience for the job, having

handled the pink slips in room 22C last year and having served as a

teacher’s aide without incident. Heather was modest in victory.

“I didn’t expect to win,” Heather said. “Michelle [Rowe], Naomi

[Rodriguez] and Danielle [Banh] all did better speeches than me.”

Marco Ramirez evidently had a good idea of which candidate he

supported and wanted to know how deeply he could express his support.

“How many times do we get to vote?” Marco asked.

Stover, a third-year teacher, combines classroom jobs with the

American government system, filling the executive, judicial and

legislative branches with jobs conducive to a fifth-grade classroom.

Ten-year-old John Perkins wasn’t interested in becoming president

because he felt his skills would be most useful as the secretary of

agriculture. John cited years of experience tending to exotic plants

and fish at his and his uncle’s home, and expects dealing with the

classroom’s plants and fish tanks to be child’s play compared to his

standard fare.

“I’ve only had one fish die on me, and that was because of natural

causes,” John said.

The speech required of presidential candidates kept the ballot

small for the 29-student classroom’s only elected position. Students

other than Heather then filled out a worksheet, which had to be done

in cursive, detailing which position they sought and why. Stover then

decides who does what after poring through their answers.

Students’ term serving their respective positions will end in

February, and the process for elections and appointments will be

repeated. Stover said she expects the February event to look and move

differently than the first-week process.

“They start to have a lot more of an opinion as the year goes on,”

Stover said. “You start to see them getting more comfortable and

confident with their personalities.”

Heather, who wants to be a marine biologist when she grows up,

narrowly appeared to be the most confident presidential candidate

during her speech, and narrowly won. The three she believed had

outspoken her get another crack at the title in a little more than

four months.

Danielle, who finished second in the race, later won a consolation

prize that delighted her: first choice at the ball bin for Friday

free play, which allowed her to take a crack at the jump rope.