The voting begins!
In an effort to engage students in learning about the presidential election, Hebrew Academy held its own mock presidential debate and rally on Monday, Nov. 5.
Organized by Lorna Legum, Hebrew Academy librarian and media specialist, the debate featured HAT’s fifth graders in various roles including presidential and vice presidential candidates, campaign managers, moderator and news reporters.
“It was truly impressive,” says Legum, “to see how well prepared the students were as a result of all their advance research and planning. The debate touched upon a comprehensive range of topics including healthcare, education, and the economy— a great learning opportunity for all the students about the election process, democracy, and the importance of voting. It was a success in large part because of the enormous support from our entire faculty who worked with the students to learn the cheers, sell hats, hand out stickers and join the exhilaration of the debate.”
“All the students displayed a remarkable knowledge of many of the major issues of the presidential campaign,” says Rabbi Mordechai Wecker, head of school. “They clearly did the necessary research and became educated voters. We concluded the event with a mock election on Nov. 6. The results? President Obama won.”
Emily Myers as Joe Biden, and Sarah Blais as Barack Obama
Playing the parts of presidential and vice presidential candidates were Sarah Blais as President Barak Obama, Emily Myers as Joe Biden, Sanni Wagenaar as Mitt Romney and Elizabeth Hughes as Paul Ryan. Obama campaign managers were Daniel Krell and Jonathan Peck, and Romney campaign managers were Micah Schachet-Brisken and Shoshanah Zysman. Election moderator was played by Rachael Stromberg and newscasters were played by Tia Einhorn, Josh Schwarz and Aidan Rosenblum. Leora Friedman served as election technical assistant, and the election poster committee members included Jordan Familant, Audrey Peck, Rose Lefcoe, and Sam Lederman.
Hebrew Academy of Tidewater is a constituent agency of United Jewish Federation of Tidewater.