Classrooms to polling stations: a hands-on lesson in citizenship

Recently, our grade 5 students got a taste of the democratic process by holding a mock municipal election. The activity gave them a practical look at how communities choose local leaders.

They took the whole process pretty seriously. One student explained how they kept their votes confidential: "We lined up to get a piece of paper, then we went into another line to have our little area". After choosing a mayor and ward councillors for the Richmond Hill area, the grade 5s carefully folded their ballots and passed them to the grade 6 students. The grade 6s then initialled the papers and put them into a secure ballot box.

Nobody was just picking names at random. Before the vote, the classes researched the candidates by going through presentation slides and reading local campaign flyers. It required some critical thinking to weigh different community needs. Speaking about their decision, another student shared, "I wanted our neighbourhood to be safe and more green space, so I chose off of what my criteria were".

The morning after the real election, the class compared their results to the actual adult vote. Interestingly, the students noticed they often backed the same candidates as the real voters. That being said, the class was really surprised to learn that real voter turnout was only 28 percent. They were quick to point out the downside of this, noting that such low turnout means only a tiny slice of the population is deciding who runs the community.

The main idea behind this mock election was to introduce the concept of citizenship and get the kids thinking about community involvement. Judging by the conversations in class, they are already feeling prepared and eager to cast a real ballot once they turn eighteen. Special thanks to Ms McCrory for organizing this activity, with the support of Ms Collins.