On Election Day at Cedar Ridge Elementary School in Surry County Schools, students learned about the election process by casting their vote for a cookie.

During the morning announcements, Donna Bledsoe, the 2023 Wells Fargo North Carolina Principal of the Year, invited the citizens of the school community to vote.

School leaders oversaw the election process just like at a real precinct.

“An election,” Bledsoe said, “is when people vote for the leaders of their community or their country.”

The sugar cookie was running against the chocolate chip. Election signs for each candidate were posted around the school.

Bledsoe greeted voters, who could read the platform of each cookie one last time before they voted.

Voters cast their ballot and then received an “I voted” sticker.

The school resource officer ensured the security of the election process.

Bledsoe noted that the school’s character trait for this month is integrity. Here is the student’s affirmation for Election Day 2024.

The idea for the Cookie Election 2024 came from TPT, a marketplace for pre-K-12 resources, powered by a community of educators. Bledsoe says she was looking for a way to focus the voting experience for students on the election process.

The chocolate chip cookie won with 70% of the vote.

“Even if we voted differently,” Bledsoe told the students, “being a good citizen is learning to celebrate and move forward together positively.”

Mrs. Swift’s voting experience

The fourth grade students in Brinda Swift’s class learned more about the election, including early voting and absentee ballots. Students had an opportunity to cast a vote for president, governor, and the eighth U.S. House district in a classroom election.

P.S.

In presidential election years, I try to spend Election Day in a school. In 2020, I was in an elementary school in the Transylvania County Schools.

Different students, different counties, different elections. Same spirit.