Oklahoma State University political science students took a break from learning to do a little teaching at Sangre Elementary School in Stillwater, Okla. 

On Wednesday, Oct. 29 and Thursday, Oct. 30, students in OSU’s Voting and Elections course gave grade-specific presentations on the imminent election.  Topics ranged from explaining the role of the governor to how to register to vote.

Then on Monday, Nov. 3, OSU’s students returned to Sangre Elementary to facilitate a mock election.  The children were brought in by grade to show their mock voter ID cards and cast their ballots.  Pre-K though fifth grade participated in the election. 

Dr. Brandon Lenoir, visiting professor of political science at OSU, notes both his students and those at Sangre benefitted from the activities.

“This project is a wonderful opportunity for my students to apply what they have learned about voting and elections, while at the same time providing a valuable outreach service to the community,” he says.  “OSU students are helping make the political process here in Oklahoma easier for grade-schoolers to understand, and hopefully making it a fun subject that they will continue to pay attention to as they continue with their education.

The partnership with Sangre Elementary began during the last election cycle by then-department head Dr. Jeanette Mendez.  She says the event was a huge success.

“The program was extremely well received by the OSU students, Sangre students and the Sangre administration,” she says.  “From the OSU side, the students enjoyed the opportunity to engage with the elementary students and take a hands on role in showing them how elections work.  From the Sangre student perspective, they were enthusiastic to have OSU students come to their classes and they enjoyed the actual voting process. They were extremely energetic on Election Day, going through the motions.  The teachers at Sangre were appreciative of OSU to come in and teach a mini-lesson that had learning activity built-in. Overall, it was a great partnership between OSU and Sangre that had benefits on many levels.”