Election 2024: Student Participation in Indianapolis

Register Chalkbeat Indiana’s free daily newsletter to stay up to date with Indianapolis Public Schools, Marion County Municipal Districts and education news from around the state.

While “The Star Spangled Banner” was played, students from Monica Poncé’s class cast their votes for the US president in a mock election. But this democratic process had its own look and feel.

Each student sat in front of a projector screen displaying portraits of the candidates. Poncé was holding a pair of buttons. She pressed blue so students could hear “I’m Kamala Harris” in the candidate’s voice. The next one was red, with the words “I am Donald Trump” written on it in a voice. Then it was the student’s turn.

Some students made their selections by pressing a button. Sensory patches corresponding to the candidates were touched. Another indicated that he was choosing between a plastic donkey or an elephant. The two choose each other, staring at one of the candidates on the screen.

“Thank you, that’s a good choice,” Poncé said regardless of the student’s choice. Together they marked the paper ballot and threw it into the cardboard box.

Each of the seven students in her high school class at the RISE Learning Center has physical, cognitive and communication disabilities, and most of the students also require assistance for the blind or visually impaired. They all use non-verbal language and, instead of a diploma, apply for a course completion certificate under the “Mobility Opportunities through Education” or “MOVE” program.

They are among thousands of Indiana students participation in false elections as their teachers use the controversial 2024 presidential election to teach the importance of voting, civic engagement and democracy.

Some people vote for their class president or choose between an ice cream party or a pizza party. Others examine the actual 2024 presidential candidates and historical examples of activism and voter suppression.

What they have in common is that they emphasize the power of voting during the presidential elections youth involvement can play a significant role in the results.

Poncé said that because her students can’t say what they want or like, things are often done for them.

“When I can give them choices, I want to give them a say in what they do,” she said.

The teacher helps students with disabilities become participants in the community

RISE, on Indianapolis’ south side, describes itself as a “joint special education program.” It serves students from Beech Grove City Schools, MSD of Decatur Township and Perry Township Schools, as well as several schools in Johnson County.

“I teach our students how to be active members of the community,” Poncé said of her students, who range in age from 15 to 22. “The community can fire them for lack of thought or opinion due to their non-verbal nature.”

One of their voting decisions was choosing between a blue or black marker to sign the fake voter registration cards they made earlier in the week.

Voter registration is a formal document, and formal documents are filled out in blue or black ink, Poncé told them as she and teaching assistants held markers for each student.

Earlier in the lesson, Poncé discussed with students the “wh words” surrounding the presidential election: what, when, and who. She also included the colors and symbols of political parties.

Poncé told them they would wait their turn to vote because sometimes lines at polling places were long. And results take time, she said, so we won’t find out until later that day who won the class election.

Two students are now old enough to vote. Poncé said that when her students turn 18, one of several resources she shares with families and guardians is information about registering to vote and the locations of polling places.

“We have to make a choice about who will rule the country,” she told the class.

The school studies electoral participation and activism

At Sankofa School of Success, an Innovation Network school within the Indianapolis Public Schools, Treasure Jones’ first-grade students discovered the qualities they would like to see in a future school president.

Someone who uses kind words and actions. Someone who is hardworking, helpful and happy.

They then gathered around Jones as she read aloud from a book titled “V is for Voting.” She reminds them of their earlier lesson on voter suppression – they agreed that it wouldn’t be fair for Mrs. Jones to stop someone from voting in school elections just because they have bad grades, for example.

“What is a campaign?” – asked one of the students inside the book.

“It’s everything you do to convince people to vote for you,” Jones said.

Jones also reminded them why voting was important to her: “It’s important to me to plug the potholes. This is important to me because I love teaching you that you have safe schools.”

She also told the class why she voted and attended school board meetings.

At Sankofa, a K-6 school in the Martindale-Brightwood neighborhood, Voting is a school-wide, month-long project that includes a variety of lessons at each grade level on voting participation, activism and more. The Nov. 5 mock election, in which fifth-graders run for office and sixth-graders serve as the electoral college, culminates the project.

There are also real-world connections, as students will also vote for presidential candidates in mock elections.

“Little kids bring a different energy to it,” said Eldridge Chism, the school’s assistant principal.

In Danita Logwood’s second grade class, students design posters to encourage parents and older siblings to vote. Without a vote, the opportunity to make change and influence how things are done is lost, Logwood said.

Here’s how she introduced it to her second-graders: If the class is having recess on the playground and you want to go out into the yard, you may feel nervous, but did you raise your hand and vote when you had the chance?

Logwood emphasized the importance of voting in another activity: She described voting requirements at different times in U.S. history, and then asked students to stand if they met those requirements. At first, only white landowners could vote, so no one in the class could run for office.

Fifth-grade teacher Ashley Helman said the idea for a mock election came from the students themselves, who were learning about the presidential election at home and then coming to the classroom and asking questions. People were often asked who teachers themselves would vote for.

Helman told them that no, as teachers they could not share such opinions. They should ask their parents.

“I can only inform you about the process and how it works,” Helman said.

How will Americans feel after Election Day?

At Enlace Academy, another Innovation Network school within IPS, sixth-grader William Ulin accepted defeat with grace.

He and a group of his classmates represented the state of Florida during an Electoral College lesson just 12 days before Election Day. Choice of: ice cream party or pizza party.

As a hypothetical Florida resident, William voted for pizza. But his classmates switched states in favor of ice cream. Ultimately, it was the class – the entire nation – that made ice cream the winner.

The class was the latest in a series of lessons on the electoral process that the K-8 school in the International Marketplace district on the city’s west side has planned for middle school students throughout October.

Lessons—taught during the school’s weekly “community meetings” that help build community and character—align with the school’s core values ​​of citizenship and integrity. Students learned what political mudslinging is and how to recognize reliable news sources.

Two weeks before Election Day, during an open event, eighth-grade students also gave presentations on issues important to them and checked how both presidential candidates would influence the issue.

As sixth-grade math teacher Elise Correa counted the electoral votes for ice cream and pizza, school principal Stephanie Campos reflected with students.

“How do you think Americans will feel after Election Day?” she said. – Someone will be upset, right?

Campos asked students how they would react if their chosen candidate lost. Madeline Corado pondered this question.

“Be happy for them?” she asked.

“There’s only so much you can control, right?” Campos said. – But you can just keep going.

Aleksandra Appleton covers Indiana education policy and writes about K-12 schools across the state. Contact her at [email protected].

Amelia Pak-Harvey runs schools in Indianapolis and Marion counties in Chalkbeat Indiana. Contact Amelia at [email protected].

MJ Slaby, as the head of the office, supervises cooperation with Chalkbeat Indiana. Contact MJ at [email protected].