Louise Harris’ fourth graders of Tabernacle Elementary School had a special guest on Election Day last week.
Tabernacle Mayor Stephen Lee IV, came to speak to the students about his job as mayor as well as Election Day and voting in general. The students had their own little Election Day, choosing which superhero they think should be president.
“It is an honor to be here… (The students) all had great questions,” Lee said.
“We like to have guests from the community come in and speak to the children … Election Day was a great day for (Lee) to come because he is on the ballot,” Harris said.
Lee started by speaking to students about how fortunate Americans are to have a democracy and be able to choose whom they would like to run the government, as not all countries have that ability. That is why Election Day is so special, Lee said.
“We’re very fortunate to be able to vote. There are not many places in the world that people can select who they want to run their country,” Lee said.
He told the students the president is not the only one being chosen that day, but also individuals in the state, county and local elections. Lee said he happened to be on the ballot, along with Deputy Mayor Joseph Yates IV. He explained to the students he had to declare he would be on the ballot months ahead of Election Day and that he had to declare a party to be on the Township Committee, himself being Republican.
“When you put your name in, you’re making a promise that you will do the job,” Lee said.
Lee spoke about his job as mayor, saying he has a lot of responsibilities. He gets the honor to do things such as hold the flag for Memorial Day, make speeches and visits for special days or in schools, and give proclamations to deserving residents and organizations. However, he said he also has to do hard jobs such as make sure the roads are cleared when it snows, make sure trash is picked up as it should be and make sure the grass at the parks and fields are cut. He also is the person who speaks to people who are higher up in government such as the county or the state, when
Tabernacle needs help or guidance.
“As the mayor, I feel like I have a big responsibility to the Tabernacle community,” Lee said.
Lee spoke about his personal life and experiences as well. Both Lee and Yates were re-elected to be on the committee last week, as they ran unopposed.
Tabernacle Elementary School also used Election Day to teach students about voting with a little election asking the question, “Which superhero would make the best president?”
Students had to fill out a voter registration form, vote in a primary election and then vote in the general election on Nov. 8. Students learned that a presidential election is held every four years. However, they have to do a few things before Election Day.
They first have to fill out a voter registration form. Students filled out one with their name, address, birthday, age and signature, and drew a picture of themselves on it. The students learned people need to register to be able to vote in an election.
Then, they have to vote in the primary to narrow down candidates. The school held a primary election in October, featuring Spider-Man, Super Woman, Batman, Hulk, Thor, Batgirl and Captain America. They told students people should learn some facts about each candidate before voting, so they offered a fact sheet to students listing the good attributes of each superhero.
The students narrowed their votes to the Hulk, Batman and Captain America. Finally, students put their votes in a ballot box available for their favorite candidate on Election Day. The result was Captain America as Tabernacle Elementary School’s choice for superhero president.
