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Lighthouse Christian Academy | Victoria
Students at Lighthouse Christian Academy Lighthouse Christian Academy is a small school located on the north side of Victoria. 64 students in grades 5 through 11 cast ballots on Student Vote Day, with the older students manning the voting stations. In the weeks leading up to the election, students learnt about democracy, Canadian and British Columbian government, and the mechanics of an election. Derek Turner, the Senior English and Social Studies teacher at Lighthouse Christian Academy wrote us following the school’s vote: ” I wanted students to gain an appreciation of their rights and privileges in democracy, and for them to realize the need for them to become aware of these issues. I wanted students to take responsibility for their actions and to understand more about the country (and province) in which they live. ” As a beginning teacher (second year teaching and first year in BC), I found the resources provided by Student Vote to be indispensible in my teaching. It made teaching the political and electoral system much easier, and I plan to use many of the resources in the future to teach how Canadian democracy works. I was quite pleased to see a majority of students becoming deeply involved in the process, and that some of our older students made decisions that will carry over into their life after high school. ” Programs like Student Vote are incredibly important because they give students a sense of the bigger picture, as well as giving them a voice in the process. Student Vote has been a great tool for helping students understand their rights and responsibilities as Canadian citizens, which is more important than ever with the dueling influences of apathy and cynicism ravaging the upcoming generation. Students realize that there is more to life than their little piece, and they know that they are part of something bigger - it gives them a sense of purpose and hope that would not have been there without Student Vote. ” CLICK HERE TO SEE LIGHTHOUSE CHRISTIAN ACADEMY’S ELECTION RESULTS
Outside the Lighthouse Christian Academy
Derek Turner, the Student Vote Team Leader and Senior English and Social Studies teacher at Lighthouse Christian Academy CLICK HERE TO VIEW ALL PHOTOS FROM LIGHTHOUSE CHRISTIAN ACADEMY Posted in Campaign News | Leave Comments » Maple Grove Elementary | Vancouver
The Student Vote Team at Maple Grove Elementary 150 students cast ballots at Maple Grove Elementary in Vancouver on Student Vote Day. Marianna Humeniuk’s Grade 7 class organized the school-wide campaign. Senior Correspondent met with the students as they prepared for Student Vote Day. Their questions were so pointed and on point that Steve had to restudy the FPTP and BC-STV electoral processes CLICK HERE TO VIEW MAPLE GROVE’S ELECTION RESULTS
Posted in Campaign News | Leave Comments » North Surrey Secondary School | Surrey
North Surrey Secondary School 378 students cast ballots on Student Vote Day at North Surrey Secondary School. Students learnt about government, democracy, the electoral process, the political parties and what candidates were running in their riding. On May 11th, students organized a voting station, acting as election officials for their peers. CLICK HERE TO VIEW NSSS’S ELECTION RESULTS
The Student Vote Team at North Surrey Secondary School Posted in Campaign News | Leave Comments » Queen Mary Elementary | Vancouver
The Student Vote Team at Queen Mary Elementary in Vancouver The team at Queen Mary Elementary is made up of an exceptional group of students… and maybe the most opinionated we met the whole campaign. 239 students cast ballots in this Vancouver school. Students prepared in advance by preparing morning announcements and a voter education campaign. Posters were placed around the school and students ran the voting stations on Student Vote Day. Our Senior Correspondent Steve Goetz visited Rosemary Burd’s Grade 6/7 class and discussed the election and democracy. Students had already developed strong opinions surrounding the candidates, policies on the most pressing issues in the campaign, and whether or not British Columbia should change its electoral process. Awesome. CLICK HERE TO SEE QUEEN MARY ELEMENTARY’S ELECTION RESULTS
Students at Queen Mary Elementary Posted in Campaign News | Leave Comments » Shaughnessy Elementary | Vancouver
Students at Shaughnessy Elementary in Vancouver 284 students cast ballots at Shaughnessy Elementary on Student Vote Day. Members of the Grade 5 class organized the voting stations, serving as the school’s election officials. Senior Correspondent Steve Goetz made a visit to the school during the campaign to meet with the Student Vote Team. He was grilled by the students on the mechanics of the First-Past-the-Post and Single-Transferable-Vote electoral processes. Students were insightful and curious, asking the tough questions for close to a hour. CLICK HERE TO SEE SHAUGHNESSY ELEMENTARY’S ELECTION RESULTS
Shaughnessy Elementary in Vancouver
A student organizer in the Grade 5 class at Shaughnessy Elementary
In the hallways of Shaughnessy Elementary Posted in Campaign News | Leave Comments » Sir Charles Tupper Secondary | Vancouver Students at Sir Charles Tupper attend a debate on the Referendum on Electoral Reform APRIL 27, 2009 Sir Charles Tupper Secondary in Vancouver was the host of a debate over the Referendum on Electoral Reform. Social Studies classes met in the auditorium to hear from representatives from the BC-STV campaign and the No-STV campaign. One student described the event like this: “We had two representatives come in. One was representing people who were for the new BC-STV voting system. One was representing people who were against it. And they had a debate and various rebuttals and questions and we got a better picture of exactly how each system works; the pros and cons.” Students lined up at a podium to ask questions. “My question was, because right now we have one representative per district and if you have a problem or issue, you can talk to them. If BC-STV won, we would have 5 or 6, who would we talk to because it would be split up between them?” said one student. The representative for the BC-STV campaign, James Roy, summed up the day like this: “What we were trying to do is increase awareness of the unfairness of the current electoral system, how often times your vote is wasted, it doesn’t count, the results are not proportional, the legislature really doesn’t look like the province and the corresponding result that has for policy. “The questions were fantastic. These kids really new what they were talking about… They were very well informed questions. They were curious. We hope the result is this good everywhere.” David Schrek, the representative from the No-STV campaign, told us he was “trying to urge people to reject STV. It’s not real reform. It’s a complicated system that would make politics worse, not better. The questions were absolutely excellent. The students obviously know what they are talking about and they had good, to-the-point questions.” CLICK HERE TO SEE SIR CHARLES TUPPER SECONDARY’S ELECTION RESULTS
David Schreck answers a question posed by a student at Sir Charles Tupper Secondary
James Roy responds to a students question at Sir Charles Tupper Secondary
Students line up to ask questions during a debate over the Referendum on Electoral Reform CLICK HERE TO SEE ALL PHOTOS FROM SIR CHARLES TUPPER SECONDARY Posted in Campaign News | Leave Comments » Walnut Road Elementary | Surrey
Students in the Grade 5 class at Walnut Road Elementary in Surrey MAY 20, 2009 Walnut Road Elementary is a small school in the Surrey-Fleetwood riding. Patti A. Ellis is the school’s Student Vote Team Leader. With her Grade 5 class, she organized the month long campaign and the Student Vote Day voting station where 185 students cast ballots. During a visit to the school, students met with Steve Goetz, the Student Vote Senior Correspondent, to discuss democracy, elections, leadership and issues being debated in the campaign. The students were exceptionally well informed and prepared for Student Vote Day. When asked whether they had been discussing the election at home, many students had watched the leaders’ debate with their parents and discussed the different political parties seeking office. One student’s parents were relying on him to provide context to the ballot question. Being a family of new citizens, the young man was learning important information about the election and sharing it with his parents so they would be more confident in casting their ballots. Mrs. Ellis first participated with Student Vote during the 2008 Federal Election. She had this to say in an email to Student Vote following the completion of the BC project: ” I have taught for 27 years and have always struggled with the Government part of the Grade 5 Social Studies curriculum. I wanted to change my own attitude and set it as a personal and professional goal to excite my students about our democratic rights and responsibilties. “We took on the Student Vote project, learning and organizing together. This has helped me immensely. The experience completely changed my attitude and approach to the curriculum. “Along with all the materials, support and my renewed attitude, I know my students will exercise their right and that they get it! I think their knowledge now is better than the majority of adults I know…very exciting!” CLICK HERE TO SEE WALNUT ROAD ELEMENTARY’S ELECTION RESULTS
A bulletin board devoted to the election campaign outside Mrs. Ellis’s classroom
Patti A Ellis | Grade 5 Teacher
The Student Vote BC poster in the hallway at Walnut Road Elementary Posted in School Profiles | Leave Comments » Student Vote Day Miranda Wang from Magee Secondary represented the more than 60,000 students who cast ballots on Student Vote Day, by announcing the results on CBC. The results presented were preliminary. The final tallies can be viewed here. STUDENTS ELECT NDP MAJORITY GOVERNMENT; REJECT BC-STV Students in 454 schools across the province cast ballots on Student Vote Day, May 11th 2009. More than 60,000 votes were cast by British Columbians under the voting age in elementary, middle and secondary schools. The BC NDP took 46 seats to form a majority government with the BC Liberals forming the official opposition with 24 candidates elected. The Green Party had a strong showing, winning 12 districts and the support of more than a quarter of all votes cast. Students rejected BC-STV on the referendum ballot question with 56% opting to maintain the First-Past-the-Post electoral system. Student voters in only 17 electoral districts voted in favour of the reform. CLICK HERE TO VIEW THE OFFICIAL RESULTS OF STUDENT VOTE BC 2009 FOR COMMENT ON RESULT OUTCOMES, PLEASE CONTACT US: call 1.866.488.8775 or email steve@studentvote.ca __________ NEWS ARTICLES Voter’s of the future choose NDP | Times-Colonist Students vote in their own election | Vancouver Sun
Miranda Wang from Magee Secondary prepares to announce the results of Student Vote BC 2009 live on CBC’s Election Night broadcast CLICK HERE TO SEE ALL PHOTOS FROM BEHIND THE SCENES AT CBC ON ELECTION NIGHT Posted in Campaign News | Leave Comments » Daily News Roundup - May 6 - Day 23 
Good Morning election watchers!
Voting Day is fast approaching and the undecided are slowly deciding.
THE SMALLER PARTIES
THE ECONOMY
Once again, the economy figured dramatically in the headlines of the provinces newspapers. All three major parties have highlighted job creation as the province has entered into a recession.
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Odd though, these articles pointed out that the economy if falling off the radar with the major political parties.
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ELECTIONEERING
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ON THE CAMPAING TRAIL
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The leaders continued their frantic travel across the province, trying to reach voters in what has become a very tight race. Here is what they were up to.
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Posted in Campaign News | Leave Comments » Newspapers Fort St. James - Caledonia Courier Kitimat -The Northern Sentinel Lillooet - Bridge River Lillooet News Maple Ridge Pitt Meadows Times New Westminster - The News Leader North Vancouver - North Shore News Parksville Qualicum Beach - The News Pender Island - Gulf Islands/Island Tides Port Alberni - Alberni Valley Times Port Coquitlam - The Tri-City News Port Hardy - North Island Gazette Princeton - The Similkameen Spotlight Queen Charolotte Islands Observer Revelstoke - Revelstoke Times Review Saanich – Peninsula News Review Salt Spring Island – Gulf Islands Driftwood Sidney - Peninsula News Review Tofino/Ucluelet - Westerly News Victoria - Goldstream News Gazette Posted in Student Vote Updates | Leave Comments » |
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