By Plamena Quintavalla, Bronxville School Reporter for Syntax

Nov. 9, 2016:  Bronxville High School seniors in Christina Reidel's political science class teamed up with Bronxville Elementary School students to give lessons on voting that generated awareness throughout the entire school community. 

The collaboration, which took place a week before to the nation's general election, prompted a conversation around the importance of voting and being an engaged citizen. 

The high school students, led by Will Cioffi, Michael Landy, and Jullian McCarthy, shared the Bronxville Teachers' Association (BTA) pledge-to-vote banner and asked the younger students to read through the various reasons that community members gave about why they are voting.

The seniors also read a story about voting and held an in-class mock election that elicited important lessons for the elementary school students.

"Voting is what engaged citizens do," Reidel said. "The students can see that it is a responsibility that we all value. They learned that voting on a national and local level shapes their communities, states, and country. People who vote are represented by their lawmakers and leaders. Voting gives citizens a voice and it's something that many groups have fought for throughout history."

The banner initiative was spearheaded by the BTA, and more than 130 teachers, students, administrators, and parents have since pledged to vote. The banner has been shared at a board of Trustees meeting, a BTA meeting, and each school council meeting and with 12th-grade political science students.

"Setting an example, taking actions to educate others, and communicating this initiative by collaborating with all members of our community, the BTA, members of the board of education, administration, parents, and students is what engaged citizenship is all about," Reidel said.

The voting lessons continued to take place throughout the elementary school and middle school classrooms over days before the national election as students created ballots that resembled the real ones. Meanwhile, students and faculty continued to share the banner throughout the school community as high school social studies teacher Chris Doyle prepared to hold mock schoolwide elections at the middle school and high school on November 7 and 8. 

Pictured here: Bronxville High School seniors teamed up with Bronxville Elementary School students in Justin Chao's third-grade class over a lesson on voting.

Photo courtesy The Bronxville School