Student elections
It's never too early to learn
BY CHRIS GAETANO Staff Writer
While still 10 years away from being able to vote, students in Patricia Styers' second-grade class at Menlo Park Elementary School eagerly jumped into a lesson in democracy and the presidency the morning of Nov. 5, the day after Election Day.

Lindeneau Elementary School held a student council election Nov. 5. Patricia Santos emerges from the voting booth after casting her ballot.

The youngsters spent about an hour and a half talking about how the U.S. government works with Edison Mayor Jun Choi, who sat in a wooden rocking chair in front of the seated class and discussed things like his favorite presidents, what the president does and how people can be better citizens.

Asking the class who their favorite presidents are produced answers such as George Washington, Bill Clinton and George Bush, though it was not specified which President Bush was being referred to. Choi, in turn, said that his favorite president was Abraham Lincoln because "he was a real man of character."

Choi also noted that Lincoln was a man who had learned from his mistakes and never gave up, saying that he had lost "many, many" times before finally clinching the presidency. He said that this is a good lesson to take home: that "even if you fail a lot doesn't mean that you give up on what you do."

PHOTOS BY JEFF GRANIT staff Above: Thomas Novembre addresses his classmates at Lindeneau Elementary School, Edison, as he runs for class president. Below: Zoira DeVaughn (l) and Brett Douches wait their turn to address their classmates as they run for treasurer.

The event also revealed the results of the election taken among members of the class, where the children voted for either Barack Obama or John McCain. Obama won handily among Styers'class by a margin of 17 to 3. The mayor noted that the real-life margin was a little closer.

He went on to talk about what it is that the president actually does. He said that the most important responsibility of the president is to be the commander in chief and run the military.

"I think the most important job a president has is to protect people," said Choi, who talked for a while on the importance of veterans in the community. He pointed out that the teacher, Syters, is a veteran of the first Gulf War, having served in the Air Force, which he later said really impressed him, and that she is a really special person and role model for the community.

After a short discussion on citizenship and how one can be a good citizen (don't litter, don't fight, stop smoking, say nice things to people), the mayor explained to the young people what he felt was the real secret in life.

"I think a big part, of the most important part, of being happy in life is to serve others … a lot of people think that to be really happy in life is to take as much as possible … but the way to be really happy in life is to serve other people," said Choi.
Contact Chris Gaetano
at sentnorth@gmnews.com.