Plainfield Academy students campaign in mock election
Plainfield Academy students are campaigning for students running to "serve" as the school's principal, assistant principal, dean, school liaison officer, teacher, and teacher assistant in the school's first-ever mock election.
A week full of campaign activities began on Monday, March 31, 2008. All students running for positions turned in their nominating petitions before the end of school Monday.
The project is designed to help students learn more about the election process as part of the ongoing presidential election campaign. The Academy is District 202's alternative school.
To be eligible, students must have a "C" or better in all classes, an attendance rate of 80 percent or higher in all classes and cannot receive any referrals for one week prior to the campaign.
Once the petitions were submitted, students began campaigning by creating election paraphernalia and hanging it around the school.
Student candidates will hand in a copy of their campaign speeches and verify the election ballot on Wednesday, April 2, 2008.
During the first three days of campaign week, the Plainfield Academy student body will also be able to register to vote during lunch or homeroom. Registered students will be given a voter card that must be used in order to cast a ballot for the mock election.
Candidates will then deliver their campaign speeches in front of the entire student body on Thursday, April 3, 2008. Then students will cast their ballots.
Students in the District 202 Post Secondary Transition and Education Program, or P-STEP, will serve as election judges to ensure student voters have their registration cards and picture IDs. The P-STEP students will also count all of the ballots cast.
All of the winners of the mock election will be announced on Friday, April 4, 2008. The winners will then attend breakfast and a meeting with the Plainfield Kiwanis Club and Plainfield Mayor Jim Waldorf on Wednesday, April 9, 2008.
The same day, the new "elected officials" will perform the job responsibilities of the position for which they were elected for the day.
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