Presidential race has students talking

Often the best sign students are interested in class is when they volunteer a topic. Tom Kearney, social science instructor at Olathe East High School, said students in his current events and government classes this year students have started class with, “Hey Mr. Kearney, did you hear about this?”

What’s got them so interested?

Students at Olathe East have want to discuss the first African American on a presidential ticket. They’ve asked about the possibility of the first woman on a presidential ticket. They’ve recently asked about Sarah Palin, and her daughter Bristol Palin, Kearney said.

Following the announcement that Bristol Palin, 17, was pregnant, students offered it as topic of discussion, he said.

“That turned into a discussion about: ‘What do we expect out of a president?’” Kearney said. “What do we expect out of a representative, or a mayor? Do we expect them to be completely pure?”

There has definitely been a noticeable increase in student interest in politics this year, said Caine Kreimendahl, social science instructor at East.

“Students have been well-versed for discussions in class,” said Kreimendahl, who has been a teacher for nine years. “2004 was a blah election. Students are definitely more interested this year.”

Students in Kreimendahl’s classes have watched national convention footage of both the Democrat and Republican parties in the past couple of weeks.

Kearney’s students will soon make a voting guide – one that will require them to research candidate issues and figure out their own opinions in relationship to each political view.

“I want them to be able to help themselves in knowing how they want to vote,” Kearney said.

Each year he “takes great pains” to present all points of view.

“If I say one kind thing about a candidate, I try to say another kind thing about the other,” Kearney said.

To keep one’s opinion out of a lesson is a constant struggle for social science teachers, said Maureen Donnegan, social science coordinator for the district.

And the struggle goes beyond discussing politics. History lessons often require teacher opinion to be removed. An opinion of a historical event could distort the lessons students need to figure out for themselves, Donnegan said.

“When I talk with teachers, I think most consider it a challenge to keep students on their toes as to what their political views are,” Donnegan said. “But the way you know you are doing a good job is to keep students guessing. It is always important for students to view more than one point of view and recognize biased points of view.”

No matter how challenging, current and controversial issues must be discussed in class, Kearney said.

The key reason is that each lesson should have “relevance,” he said.

“If all we are talking about is something in a book, students can’t touch it or relate to it,” he said.

Lessons on presidential elections are given throughout the district from kindergarten to 12th grade, Donnegan said.

“The elections and lessons in civics and government are something we do all of the time,” Donnegan said. “It is just more exciting when we have real elections going on.”

American Government classes in high school probably have the most intensely focused lessons related to political science, she said.

At Prairie Trail Junior High School eighth-grade teachers plan to lead students in a computerized voter registration lesson this year. They also want to partner with fifth-grade classes on some election projects, Donnegan said.

But throughout the district most plans to use the election in classrooms are “just being hammered out,” Donnegan said.

“There probably isn’t a single classroom that doesn’t use the election in some way,” Donnegan said.

At each grade level lessons about elections are created to fit the appropriate level of understanding, she said.

“In kindergarten you start learning about how you have rules in class and that the country has rules, too,” Donnegan said.

Often those lessons lead into what makes a good leader and who current and past presidents are, she said.

In third and fourth grade, students start learning at branches of government and local government. As students get closer to voting age, teachers talk more about getting involved politically, whether it be through volunteering or voting, she said.

Teachers in the district began to notice increased excitement in the election this year when many students participated in caucuses in the spring.

“When students participate and they are out there and getting involved, it is very exciting,” Donnegan said. “It is always more exciting when there isn’t an incumbent.”

Probably the most extensive way students will get involved in the presidential election is through a district-wide election just prior to the general election in November. The election is run electronically.

In 2000 and 2004 the mock-presidential election was open to upper grade levels. This year students from kindergarten to 12th grade will cast a vote. The ballots in the district-wide election will look exactly like a ballot for anyone in the voting district will use.

The ballot will include representative candidates and senators, said Loralee Baker-Rapue, a district spokesperson.

The ballot also will include a question on the current Olathe district bond issue, Baker-Rapue said.