Today, we hosted a full-school early voting election to select this year's theme for the Whole School Project. Middle schoolers held primaries last week, landing on three candidates for the theme of this annual, cross-grade, multi-day program. The candidates are (prepare yourself for this bizarre combination): Survival, Food, or Play. This week, middle school groups presented their candidates to the lower school students, and our Chief Election Official/Principal explained all the voting rules. She didn't have to provide much background on the system because all grades, including our preschoolers, have been learning about voting and elections for a few weeks.
I had the privilege of serving as an election observer today. I watched as students approached their voting sites, checked their registration, voted privately, and proudly received their "I voted" stickers. I am delighted to report that we only had one reported irregularity. Apparently, the head of school is not eligible to vote in student elections; who knew? Ballots have been counted and recounted, and the race is too close to call at the moment. Election officials Lisa and Iliana believe that the mail-in ballots (from students who were absent) could make all the difference. We plan to announce the results on Monday, Beit Rabban's Day of Civic Joy.
While the state of our quasi-democracy is strong at Beit Rabban, I can't pretend it was an easy week for students. This was a week of a LOT OF FEELINGS, with debates in classrooms and arguments on the playground. Students are invested in their candidates for the Whole School Project and are reminded of their choices at every turn with campaign signs that the middle schoolers have hung up. Some younger students have older siblings running campaigns and feel the pull to vote according to their familial allegiances. Other younger siblings have decided to vote against their older sibling's campaign, creating tensions at home. Until the very last minute, we had a significant group of undecided voters, many of whom experienced quite a bit of attempted convincing from other students.
I have enjoyed every element of this. The primaries were thoughtful and intense, the campaign presentations were well-crafted and energetic (one group threw dozens of paper airplane flyers into the crowd at the end of their presentations), and the campaign posters were well-designed and memorable. And, of course, the voting itself was taken delightfully seriously by the poll workers and student voters. But, the best part of this week was the social tension students had to navigate between the announcement of candidates and voting. This tension is where the long-term learnings really develop. Learning how to argue civilly, how to advocate without bullying, how to make a decision on your own, how to stay in a relationship with those who want to see a different outcome, and how to accept a fair decision are what society needs our children to learn. These habits of mind are the backbone of a free, fair, and safe society, and we are committed to helping our children build their civic muscles.
And we balance the tension with joy as well. The whole election process has been fun and silly even as it has real impact on the children's lives. On Monday, when we announce the election winner, we are doing so in the context of a Day of Civic Joy, a term we have come to embrace in the school. The American Academy of Arts and Sciences defines Civic Joy as "a commitment to creative possibility in the face of pain and struggle" because "[w]hile participation is a responsibility, it need not be a chore. Joining in civic life can and should be full of joy and full of love." Civic Joy is especially important during times of heightened polarization and heaviness when so many people are either fighting or disengaging.
We want our children to feel obligated to participate, to enjoy participating, and to understand that their participation matters. Help us with this lofty task by participating in our Day of Civic Joy on Monday:
If you are in town…
Help your child prepare a celebratory red, white, and blue outfit.
Wear your own stars and stripes to arrival or dismissal.
If you are not local, send us a picture to hang up in school:
Send us a picture of yourself in stars and stripes (reply to this email or email ecombs@beitrabban.org)
If you voted early, send us a picture of yourself with your "I voted" sticker.
Wherever you are, remind your children that we should vote with joy, the sort of joy that we get when doing a mitzvah.
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