Primary students got familiar with the election process on November 6 and 7, 2013.
Every year Primary students from first to fifth grade participate in an election. Students vote in the library resource room, where you might have noticed the red, white and blue voting booths that the Lycée borrows from the French Consulate along with an official ballot box.
In first and second grades, the voting process is a great experience to have, but we had to be a little creative to find something they could vote on. Since then, these students vote for the special dessert the entire school will have on the last day before every vacation or long weekend. This year’s candidates: Chocolate mousse, chocolate cake or an apple cobbler (see photo on the left. Watch more photos here)! Results any party would agree on!
In third to fifth grade, students vote for two class delegates and two vice-delegates, who will represent them in a student council. Primary elections take place in their classrooms, and then we have a second round on the school’s own election day.
Last year’s student council created a Guide to the Student Council, which included a section on the electoral process from campaigning to voting. It also included a section on the qualities the students felt were necessary to be a good delegate and listed some of the delegates’ duties. This guide was shared with third-, fourth- and fifth-grade students in class.
In addition, at an assembly earlier this year, all students saw a short film (made by students) that took them through the voting process step by step.
About the Author :
Nadine Kaston was born in New York to French parents and has spent her life in a bilingual French-English environment. She attended school in France as a child but completed her studies at the Lycée Français de New York. She holds a master’s from Teachers College at Columbia University and began her teaching career at the university level. After the birth of her two children (both alumni of the Lycée), Nadine returned to the classroom to teach French and English as a Second Language to younger students. She taught for six years at the Lycée, before becoming Assistant Director of Primary in 2006.