Post-Election at School

I teach two classes of Social Studies, and since the beginning of the year we've been following the election. I don't share my views with my students, although I get questioned relentlessly. Several of my outspoken African-American children have assumed that I supported McCain, but I haven't been able to get them to give me a reason why they think so. It was pretty obvious from the way it was stated that most made that assumption due to the fact I am white...

So this morning the students came in bouncing off the walls. Many of them supported Obama, and talked about how happy their parents were and how they were kept up all night for election results. Others were obviously disappointed. I was impressed when one student of mine walked in first thing this morning and said "Congratulations" to the kid next to her, an avid Obama fan. I asked, "Did you support McCain?" and she told me, "No, but my Dad did."

Today in class, we colored in the electoral college map and tallied up the numbers for both candidates. We kept the TV on for an hour and anytime anyone interesting was speaking (namely the candidates, but that also included Oprah and people in the town of Obama, Japan) we tuned in. We talked about being gracious winners and good losers. They pestered me again about who I voted for, but I said, "The important thing is that I voted. It doesn't matter today who I voted for- what matters is that I'm ready to support the next president." We looked at the 62 million votes Obama got (as of this morning) and the 55 million McCain got. We talked about how 55 million people woke up disappointed this morning, and what effect that has on the country.

It gave me a ton of hope to watch the kids quiet each other to watch Obama, and to a lesser extent, McCain, speak (no matter whom they supported before, Obama won, and kids like winners). They were totally engrossed in what was going on. So many of them have a lot of faith in Obama. Hopefully he won't let them down.

A few quotes from 4th graders during election season:

Student 1 (watching TV): "There's the White House! That's where Obama will be living!"
Student 2: "President Bush had better pack his bags."
Me: "He still has 77 days in office."
Student 2: "He still better pack his bags!"
Me: "President Bush has until January to finish his job. Obama isn't inaugurated until January... he won't move in until then."
Student 2: "Pres. Bush better start packing his bags."
Me: "It doesn't take 77 days to pack up your house."
Student 2: "He'd better start packing his bags."
Me: "If Obama isn't reelected, he'd also have 77 days to... oh, nevermind. I guess the new president does have interior decor to pick out. Maybe packing does start now."

A student to the dad of one of my students this morning (he's in his late 30s with thinning hair): "You look like John McCain!"
Me: "That's almost as bad as when students told me I had wrinkles two years ago!"

That same student: "My mom says that if Obama wins someone will probably kill him."
(I didn't have an eloquent response to that one.)

Student: "Obama's daughters are hot!"

***

I was able to go in this morning with a huge smile on my face that had nothing to do with the presidential election. We've tried three times in the district to get voters to approve building/renovating the high school, and it finally passed this time! The building was put up in the 1910s and hadn't had major work done to it. I'm so thankful that the kids will be in a better environment.

Thank goodness... November 4

I just got done explaining some of my political thoughts in an e-mail. Now I'm fresh out of brainpower. I'd be better off keeping my mouth shut, I think, but this is my last chance to wax political for awhile...

Basically what things come down to for me are education and health care. My belief is that every kid in America should have basic health care and an education equal to their needs.

Unfortunately every family doesn't have the ability to provide their kids with what they need to. So government has to play a role. I'd rather pay for education and health care than prison.

That doesn't seem so controversial... but I also sit very strongly on one side of Roe vs. Wade due mainly to those issues... basically I don't think anyone should bring a child into the world that they aren't committed to caring for. If people were better educated, they might know better not to conceive kids they can't be committed to. There's also a bit of feminist "my body, my choice" thrown in there, too.

Nobody asked. I don't care. I voted, and I'll be happy to live with the results after America has spoken.

America

I am following this election more than any in the past, as I'm sure many younger Americans are. I am very hopeful that change can come to government and bring a more positive outlook on life in our country.

I did not watch any of the convention speeches. I would rather look up voting records, platforms and plans to try to find facts rather than depend on delivery of a rehearsed speech to make decisions. I do enjoy the debates and feel it's easier to compare candidates on that stage.

With that said, I did read the President and VP candidates' speeches. I was most drawn to their comments about America.

From Obama's acceptance speech:

"Four years ago, I stood before you and told you my story – of the brief union between a young man from Kenya and a young woman from Kansas who weren’t well-off or well- known, but shared a belief that in America, their son could achieve whatever he put his
mind to.

It is that promise that has always set this country apart – that through hard work and sacrifice, each of us can pursue our individual dreams but still come together as one American family, to ensure that the next generation can pursue their dreams as well.

It’s a promise that says each of us has the freedom to make of our own lives what we will, but that we also have the obligation to treat each other with dignity and respect.

That’s the promise of America – the idea that we are responsible for ourselves, but that we also rise or fall as one nation; the fundamental belief that I am my brother’s keeper; I am my sister’s keeper.

Individual responsibility and mutual responsibility – that’s the essence of America’s promise.

This country of ours has more wealth than any nation, but that’s not what makes us rich. We have the most powerful military on Earth, but that’s not what makes us strong. Our universities and our culture are the envy of the world, but that’s not what keeps the world coming to our shores.

Instead, it is that American spirit – that American promise – that pushes us forward even when the path is uncertain; that binds us together in spite of our differences; that makes us fix our eye not on what is seen, but what is unseen, that better place around the bend.

That promise is our greatest inheritance. It’s a promise I make to my daughters when I tuck them in at night, and a promise that you make to yours – a promise that has led immigrants to cross oceans and pioneers to travel west; a promise that led workers to picket lines, and women to reach for the ballot.

And it is that promise that forty five years ago today, brought Americans from every corner of this land to stand together on a Mall in Washington, before Lincoln’s Memorial, and hear a young preacher from Georgia speak of his dream.

The men and women who gathered there could’ve heard many things. They could’ve heard words of anger and discord. They could’ve been told to succumb to the fear and frustration of so many dreams deferred.

But what the people heard instead – people of every creed and color, from every walk of life – is that in America, our destiny is inextricably linked. That together, our dreams can be one.

“We cannot walk alone,” the preacher cried. “And as we walk, we must make the pledge that we shall always march ahead. We cannot turn back.” "



From McCain's acceptance speech:

"In America, we change things that need to be changed. Each generation makes its contribution to our greatness. The work that is ours to do is plainly before us. We don’t need to search for it.

If you find faults with our country, make it a better one. If you’re disappointed with the mistakes of government, join its ranks and work to correct them. Enlist in our Armed Forces. Become a teacher. Enter the ministry. Run for public office. Feed a hungry child. Teach an illiterate adult to read. Comfort the afflicted. Defend the rights of the oppressed. Our country will be the better, and you will be the happier. Because nothing brings greater happiness in life than to serve a cause greater than yourself.

We’re Americans, and we never give up. We never quit. We never hide from history. We make history."



From Biden's speech:

"My mother's creed is the American creed: No one is better than you. You are everyone's equal, and everyone is equal to you."


I also thought that this article made a good point.

Politics

So today John McCain named his running mate. It will be Sarah Palin, the governor of Alaska. This intrigues me for a number of reasons. First, she's 44. With McCain as old as he is and criticizing Obama for not having enough experience to run the country, I am certain that her age and inexperience will come up as she'd be the President should anything happen to McCain.

She also has five children. Their names are: Track, Bristol, Willow, Piper, and Trig.

Maybe it's just because I'm a teacher and encounter all sorts of parents, kids, and names, but I have to wonder about her...