Excited chatter and a burst of opinions erupted when Edward Dassian revealed the ballot to his fifth-grade class at the San Diego Unified School District’s Language Academy.
The students in Dassian’s class weren’t voting for president or even mayor of San Diego. They voted on things impacting their daily lives, like homework due dates and break times.
“I think it's a nice chance to be voting because later on in life we will actually be able to vote for a real president or state laws, federal laws,” fifth-grader Anabella Nieres said. “It's also a great chance to just think (about) what can happen and let your choices go through.”
There were five propositions on the ballot, including, “H” for homework and “F” for fiesta, among others. “H” would change their homework due date. “F” would decide the main course for their fiesta.
“I wanted to do one that wasn't necessarily them doing a mock election,” Dassian said. “I wanted it to be things that were relevant to them and directly impacted their schedule, their opportunities, their parties.”
This classroom activity is part of San Diego Unified’s “SD Unified for Democracy.”
Outside of this event, there have been other workshops for both families and students that promoted civic discussion and education during the election season.
For some of the fifth graders, the classroom unit on elections was their first time talking about voting. Dax Eckert and Katsumi Ibarreche both recognized the weight of their decisions.
“I was kind of excited and nervous at the same time because it's like, your choices matter,” Eckert said. “I can't wait to see if it's, like, worse than before or better.”
In previous classes, they discussed the history of voting and how it has changed over the years. In particular, they learned about how women and people of color were historically not allowed to vote.
“I think it's a privilege to be able to do that because not everyone can do it,” Ibarreche said.
Dassian noted that in just two presidential cycles, his students will be voting in real elections.
“I wanted them to kind of get jump started now so that when they're 18 and over, they have this idea of, ‘Wow, my vote matters,’” Dassian said.
Click here to learn more about SD Unified for Democracy.
