Mr. LaFleur’s class of 2017 had a thrilling project taking place before the end of the year in place of their final. Five students in the class each got to pick, or got assigned, a political party on the spectrum which ranged from Radical (the Bamboo party) to Reactionary (the Hyaena party).

  “When I was a senior in high school, my teacher did this project for my whole senior class. We would work on it all semester and come together at the end to vote a winner,” said LaFleur.

  Teachers of all government classes at Heritage do this project but it was LaFleur who started it.

  “I took AP Gov and it was super fun, we all didn’t take it too seriously so it was light hearted and fun,” said Nat Mason, a senior in Mrs. Pennington’s class.

  This project, taking place when the senior take government, let the whole class experience the stress, fun and complications of running for president. Each candidate had two to three members on their team with roles such as: Campaign Manager, Campaign Staffer and Policy Director. Students who did not join a political campaign group chose roles of debate monitor, reporters and even film makers who helped the candidates with political commercials.

  “I feel like the election project is gives us the opportunity to learn how running for president actually works and helps us understand it in an interactive, hands on way and it’s kind of fun and we get to mess around with it a bit,” said Kathryn Roark.

  The project started with all the candidates giving their bid speech which consisted of them telling about themselves and starting up the campaign by hinting at political views. The second speech was the public policy/stump speech in which the candidates spoke about the five topics they agreed to make up their political platform.

  “It was pretty fun, since I was the only conservative candidate, and it felt more like a popularity contest rather than a real debate,” said Logan Whitmire, candidate for the Hippo Party (Republican).

  While some enjoyed the project, others may not have agreed with the way time was spent for the end of their senior year.

  “It’s interesting but it’s kind of a waste and we’re using a lot of class time while we could be doing more notes and stuff. I don’t see why we have to do a super long project for the end of the year,” said Josie Blubaugh (12).
Students find new and creative ways to showcase their talents in order to “win” the election.

  “I enjoy the project because I’m always amazed at what students can do when they get up and speak or when they debate or even when we see the commercials they produced,” LaFleur continued “you get to see skills and talents that are hidden and I’m always blown away by it.”

  The project changes every year but this year it is a continuous thing that many love and hate about senior year. At the end of the day, the project really shows you how to run for president, from the stress of speeches to ease of debates.