Students at Elcan-King Elementary got in the election spirit this year!

On Oct. 21, 318 student in second through fifth grades voted in an online mock election sponsored by the Youth Leadership Initiative, a national civic education program based at the University of Virginia Center for Politics.

Elcan-King students joined millions of students nationwide as they voted for president, U.S. senator and House Representative. A national research study conducted by University of Virginia Center for Politics Director Larry J. Sabato and Chief of Staff Ken Stroupe found that “students in classes where teachers used the YLI Mock Election and the related lesson plans reported a higher tendency toward future political participation.”

Sabato added, “As young people have become engaged in the political process, through the classroom and community service, we are seeing those experiences translate to a heightened sense of interest and excitement in this year’s election.”

Activities leading up to the mock election included classroom lessons related to the election, daily election trivia delivered by student council members on the news show and an election poster contest. Students learned to be active citizens by creating posters to encourage adults to vote in the upcoming election.

Winners of Elcan-King’s election poster contest have their posters on display in the courthouse downtown until election day.

As for the winners in the elections, the Elcan-King students voted for the following:

For president, Barack Obama received 59 percent, John McCain received 40 percent;

In Georgia’s U.S. Senate race, Jim Martin received 54 percent, Saxby Chambliss received 34 percent and Allen Buckley received 12 percent;

For the U.S. House, Sanford Bishop received 63 percent and Lee Ferrell received 37 percent.