Young students at several Andover schools cast their ballots as part of a national mock presidential election by students this week, teaching kids about the importance of voting.
Among the schools were Bancroft Elementary, High Plain Elementary and Shawsheen School, and the private St. Augustine School.
Shawsheen School students voted in the 2012 Your Voice Mock Student Election on Thursday, Nov. 1. Shawsheen is a preschool through grade 2 school, and 18 classes made their choice for president. The young students’ votes were added to over 5 million other student votes from around the country. Shawsheen students were surprised at how simple it is to vote and they happily wore their “I Voted” sticker for the rest of the day, according to Shannon Hartnett, the coordinator of the event.
She reported that the Shawsheen election went to Barack Obama with 60 percent of the votes (155 votes for Obama, 104 for Romney).
Shawsheen students also created posters to show how they feel about voting. “Think Big! It’s Your Country! It’s Your Vote!” was the message from second-grader Charlie Buoncontri.
Kindergarten student Leila Almeida said, “I want a president who is smart, strong and brave.” First-grader Shane Garvin summed up his feelings by writing “I am proud to be an American.”
