WHS Students Experience Voting in Mock Elections

Not too long before school was out in May, Westmoore High School Special Education and Secondary Transition Teacher Roger Bentley developed an idea that could help his students not only learn about the voting process, but experience it.

 

He wanted his students not to just learn about the process, but to move through the steps of both a primary and a general election. For Bentley, one of the best ways to experience the lesson was to have his students work the voting stations. Once other WHS students and staff learned about the project, many of them jumped in to get involved.

 

"Going through the sections of government and how people get elected into government sparked the idea. Among my eight special education students, many of them were turning 18 and didn't know how to begin voting. I asked them if they would like to hold a mock election," said Bentley. 

 

He thought they would best experience the election cycles with more people involved and so put a call out to his colleagues to see what they thought. "What started with about 20 people helping out turned into over 1,000 students signed up to vote," Bentley said. "It became a full inclusion, schoolwide event."

 

For the primary election on April 8 and the general election on April 28, Bentley had students assigned as poll workers, as election board student workers handing out ballots, and students who also handed out custom-made WHS Jags "I Voted" stickers courtesy of Glenda Johnson's Tech Now class. What added to the experience were the real voting booths donated by the Cleveland and Oklahoma County Election Boards. 

 

Family and Consumer Sciences Teacher Ashley Craft built and decorated ballot boxes for the three voting stations across the large campus, ensuring that everyone who wanted to vote could do so. Additionally, AP History Teacher James McCormick's students assisted with election-day duties at the voting sites. 

 

What did they vote for? Students and staff had two choices: The Straight Talk Party, represented by student Randy Trinh, or the Thunder Party, represented by student Andy Flores.

 

Bentley's students had station assignments at the three campus voting sites. They were accompanied by students from the AP U.S. History class.

 

Bentley said he was excited about the energy around his initiative and hopes his students enjoyed being part of the project. More importantly, he hopes that WHS students understand the democratic process and how it determines political outcomes.

 

Today's primary elections will likely spark some memories among WHS students who were not only involved in coordinating the project but also participated in the voting process up close.