My 11-year-old got a lesson in electoral politics last week. Elections for her school's Student Council were over the past 2 week, and she decided to run for Secretary. I should say to begin with that A, our daughter, is very shy. Maybe "shy" isn't the right word; she's quiet and reserved, not enthusiastic about putting herself out in front. She's gotten anxiety attacks in the past just by doing an oral report in front of her class. So this was not what Mr. Peach and I were expecting.
We signed a permission slip before she submitted her name, promising to get her to all the meetings on time (they're all held before school) and help out in general when needed. A made a poster and wrote a speech. The speech was great. The poster was great. She practiced her speech once or twice. Then it was Election Week.
A got in front of her class and read the speech. She won in her classroom, and moved on to the rest of the school. The person she was running against was one of her best friends. (She still is, I think.)
The candidates had to give a speech in an assembly with all the 5th and 6th grade students. Apparently the speech went really well, because her teacher told us so during her conference. Then everybody voted.
The election was very close. A lost, and her friend won. According to her teacher, the Student Council advisor (her 4th grade teacher) and the principal, the vote was very close. They encouraged her to run for class representative.
She's now the class alternate. She still has to go to 1 meeting every other month and attend when the rep cannot be there. But she ran, and gave another speech.
A still hates speaking in public. But the terror isn't there anymore, which is awesome to see. She also learned some valuable lessons about politics...
The winner of the school election has lots of acting experience - about 5 years worth - which gave her greater confidence on stage. The winner of the class representative election had done public speaking in her old elementary school. Does that really have anything to do with the outcome? I don't know. Maybe I'm just a mom trying to defend her child. She did say she would do it again. But I think I've had enough politics in our immediate lives for a while.