The October 21st Federal Election is of extra significance for grade five students at Colette Bourgonje School. They will be casting ballots in two elections. The young politicians and their supporters will vote for the actual candidates in their school’s riding on October 17th as part of the national Student Vote program and in their own election. Teacher Reg Wihak says his pupils will go through the entire process beginning with nominations and include formulating election platforms as well as making posters and speeches. Wihak says students get fully engaged in the political process and some candidates in the past have been a little overzealous in their promises like pledging to add an extra recess. He says they will cast their ballots similar to actual voters, into an Elections Canada box from behind a curtain. Wihak feels this is a great learning experience and hopes to prevent voter apathy in the future by offering hands-on experience. Class time devoted to the elections is also spent examining fake-news in the national campaign. The Colette Bourgonje children will be among students from 48 schools in the Saskatoon Public Division taking part in the Student Vote event and among about a million across Canada.
Schools Jump on the Election Educational Opportunity
Sep 27, 2019 | 6:23 AM