With just a month left until November 8, it’s almost impossible to avoid news about the U.S. presidential race. But middle schoolers on Milwaukee’s south side are focusing on their own campaigns in the race for student council.
It’s a Monday, after school. Twenty kids running for St. Anthony’s student council are gathered in a classroom to work on their campaigns.
Some are clacking away on laptops preparing speeches, others have gathered art supplies and big sheets of white paper to make campaign posters.
Despite the obvious parallel, any mention of the national election is noticeably absent during this workshop.
LISTEN: How Do You Teach Politics During An Election That Defies Convention?
Teacher and student council adviser Haley Shaw says that’s because last year a few kids modeled their campaigns after what they saw nationally.
"They would just put posters of Hillary and Trump, and big red x’s in which one they didn’t like, and ‘Vote for me because I’m not like this person!’” Shaw describes. “We just decided this year that we were going to leave that behind, and have them focus on themselves more so than the presidential candidates.”
Yet Shaw says she and her colleagues have held a few conversations with the kids about tone and tactics.
"We just decided this year, [we're going to] have them focus on themselves more so than the presidential candidates."
For instance, teacher Gretchen Zyduck made this announcement… “By running for an elected position, you will not bully, you will not bribe others, meaning you’re not going to go up to someone and say, ‘Hey, I’ll give you this Pokémon card if you vote for me.’”
And its clear students are taking the lessons to heart.
“Hashtag, ‘#Fernanda4President,’ it’s a trend!” fifth grader Fernanda Muñoz tells me.
“Where is it a trend?” I ask.
“Instagram!” she exclaims, followed quickly by, “I’m just kidding, we’re not allowed to use social media.”
In a word, Fernanda is confident. She served as student council vice president last year. This time, she’s going for the top spot.
But she faces a unique challenge: running against her best friend, Chantel. The two girls say they'll be happy, whoever wins. In fact, they’re glad they can work with each other – even if that means just sitting next to each other, offering advice on the other’s poster.
“[Because] then you get to share your opinions, which makes it a lot easier for you, and help them out,” Fernanda explains. “And they help you out too, in return.”
After just one week of tweaking their speeches, it’s finally here: election day.
The candidates are backstage in the school gym/auditorium, getting ready to speak in front of the entire student body.
Despite their nerves, it’s clear the students have absorbed the tone teachers have been encouraging. The kids cheer and clap as each returns backstage after giving his or her speech.
This is what St. Anthony School president José Vasquez says he wants students to take away from the experience of running for office.
“What we’re showing and instructing the children is that they’ve got to take leadership roles, they’ve got to be involved in their community. And this stage, it’s the community of their school,” Vasquez says. “Eventually, we want them to become leaders involved in their greater community – the city of Milwaukee, the county of Milwaukee. So for us, it starts very young.”
And manageable. Members elected to student council lead pep rallies and bake sales, and speak on behalf of their peers in conversations with adults in the school, including the principal.
