Issue link: https://trevordayschool.uberflip.com/i/998876
lower school election study T R E V O R T R A N S L AT E S : While America debated one of the most contentious presidential elections in years, Trevor's Lower School had their own political rivalry: which dragon to elect as the Lower School mascot. Understanding that children are not oblivious to adult conversations around them, and that civic literacy has value long before one turns 18, Trevor's Lower School holds its own mascot election every four years to teach students about the electoral process in a hands-on, highly tangible format. e 5th-grade classes take a deep dive into this curriculum, and the other grade levels participate in a variety of fun and developmentally appropriate ways. For example, Kindergarten students design and construct voting booths; 2nd graders handle voter registration. All students can cast a vote. is year, the children were introduced to the backgrounds and platforms of two main candidates, while 5th-grade teachers provided a wealth of relevant information—topics included campaigning, the difference between the popular vote and the electoral college, and the media's role in elections. From this critical foundation of understanding, higher-level problem solving and creativity took flight. Students made videos that familiarized their peers with the candidates; town hall debates were held; and Head of School Scott Reisinger even hosted a Q&A session to respond to students' questions within a historical framework. Dragon Alex was the first candidate to be introduced, followed by Jamie. Alex pledged to unite all members of the Lower School around their common interests, and promote fun for everyone. Students learned that Alex was raised in Queens and lives in the same house as his grandparents. Alex is bilingual and spends most of his summers at the community pool with his cousins, where he developed a love of water sports. Because of this passion, Alex 0 8 T R E V O R D AY S C H O O L n W I N T E R 2 0 1 6 – 2 0 1 7 pledged to create a swimming pool on Trevor's roof. Alex also vowed to put a pet in every classroom. Jamie's passion is for environmental sustainability; he volun- teers regularly to help clean Central Park. Jamie wanted to improve the school's recycling system, and to help make Trevor a cleaner, happier community. Jamie was born in the Bronx; he is also bilingual. Jamie spent much of his childhood with his family in the mountains and loves winter. Given this passion, Jamie pledged to transform the Lower School's roof into a "Trevor Wonderland" by installing an ice-skating rink. He also vowed that each classroom would hold a party every Friday. Shortly after students met both candidates, scandals began to erupt. Jamie, who prided himself on being an environmentalist, was seen throwing out recyclable plastic in the trash. And Alex was so overconfident of victory that he began building his promised pool, which sprang a leak in the building. Both candidates were accused of being unkind to each other in their debates and not behaving amicably elsewhere. Many students began to feel that they couldn't support either candidate. ey found them insincere, and their promises unreliable. So, the students posed an important question to their teachers: "What happens in an election if you don't like the main candidates?" As Trevor teachers always do in their inquiry-based classrooms, they immediately engaged the students' curiosity and added enhanced lessons about third- party candidates. "A unit like this is at the heart of inquiry- based learning," says Liz Fishman, Grade 5 English and History Teacher, and Lower School History Curriculum Coordinator. "I know what my end goals are, because I develop the curriculum through Understanding By Design (also known as backward design, the practice of first looking at the desired outcomes in order to design curriculum units), but I cannot predict what themes will most resonate or what new content will arise. In 2012, for example, we debated the significance of a candidate's religion. is year, we addressed the impact of gender in the campaign and the power of social media."