The senior Government and Economics class held a mock Presidential debate and elections on Tuesday, November 8 in the auditorium.
The day consisted of a Vice Presidential debate, Presidential debate, popular vote, and electoral college vote.
The debates and voting took place in the auditorium and were broadcast live all day across the high school classrooms.
Each student had a role, whether it was as a debate moderator, a state representative, a candidate, or part of the campaign staff, according to Government and Economics teacher Melissa Miller.
The four candidates were Ngosa Pepala as Democratic Presidential candidate Hillary Clinton, Anna Stephens as Republican Presidential candidate Donald Trump, Petr Necheff as Democratic Vice-Presidential candidate Tim Kaine, and Shannen Cloherty as Republican Vice-Presidential candidate Mike Pence.
“Not only did [Stephens] and I debate in a respectable manner, but we were also able to have fun while doing so,” said Pepala.
Preparation for the debate began approximately three weeks in advance and consisted of practicing on an individual and group basis and meeting with teachers.
“As preparation for the debate, [Cloherty] and I studied statistics, facts, and policies that our candidates have discussed,” said Stephens.
On the day of the election, each state, which consisted of a group of approximately three people, voted for either Clinton or Trump.
The job of the moderators, in addition to asking the candidates questions during the debate, was to tally up the votes at the end and announce the outcome, according to moderator Zach Simchick.
“We called [the mock election] the ‘Better than 2016 Election’ because we wanted to be better than the culture we were seeing around us,” said Miller. “We didn’t want name calling or people screaming at each other. I think [the students] proved they could be better. I’m very proud of them.”
Note: this article was originally published in Franklin Regional High School's newspaper The Panther.
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