Kerry wins...in Valley Stream V.S. students hold mock election

      In mock elections held at Central, North and South High Schools and Memorial Junior High Oct. 28 to Nov. 1, out of 2,526 students voting, 66 percent cast their ballots for the Senator John Kerry/Senator John Edwards ticket, while 29 percent backed President George W. Bush and Vice President Dick Cheney.
      The results, while not reflecting the national outcome, did more closely reflect Valley Stream and North Valley Stream election results, where out of 25,227 voters, 14,084 or more than half, voted for the Kerry and Edwards
      The election proved to be a hands-on experience for students. I really learned a lot about the issues that I didn-t know before, said Central High School senior Melissa Lozano, a student in Hayward Alfred-s participation in government class. We researched the positions and philosophies of all of the political parties and candidates, looked on their Web sites, and also studied the electoral college and the role of the media in elections.
      Watching the political conventions during the summer and the presidential and vice presidential debates in the fall, holding debates in class, and giving class presentations on a variety of domestic and foreign policy issues were also among the research topics assigned to students, said North High School social studies department chair Jennifer Buonaspina.
      The election process was handled a little differently at each school. In previous presidential elections, students had the opportunity to vote on actual voting machines. This year, the Nassau County Board of Elections was not able to part with machines in October for mock election purposes. Thus, students voted on paper ballots or scantrons.

Individual school results
At Central, 331 students in grades 10 to 12 voted on scantrons at a polling place in the lobby entrance. The results were 56 percent for Kerry, 34 percent for Bush, seven percent for Ralph Nader, and three percent for the three other candidates.
      At Memorial, 840 students in grades seven to nine voted using paper ballots in their social studies classes. Kerry won 74 percent of the vote; Bush 20 percent; and Nader 6 percent.
       Three hundred twenty-six students in grades 11 to 12 voted in American history, economics and participation in government classes at South. The results were 67 percent for Kerry, 19 percent for Bush, and 14 percent for Nader.
      At North, 1,029 students in grades seven to 12 voted on scantrons in social studies classes, giving Kerry 62 percent of the vote to Bush-s 38 percent.

Surveys and polls at North
At North, under the leadership of social studies department chair Jennifer Buonaspina and mathematics department chair Edward Curran, students took their study of elections one step further.
       To mimic what is done on the national level, Curran-s A.P. statistics class conducted both a pre-election voter survey and an exit poll.
      For the voter survey, they compiled a random sample of all students, grades seven to 12, in social studies classes. They then gave an opinion poll to the sample, which constituted a little less than 10 percent of the students, and did a statistical analysis to try to predict voting results.
       Then during the student mock election Friday, Oct. 29, they stood outside social studies classes (election precincts) doing exit polls on a sampling of students to predict the results.
      Their pre-election survey on Wednesday, Oct. 27 showed 42 percent of the votes for Kerry, 37 percent for Bush, one percent for Nader, and a large block of 20 percent of voters still undecided. Just as survey results are announced in the media before the vote, the students announced their survey results in school on Thursday. Their exit polls on Friday, Oct. 29 showed 60 percent of the vote for Kerry. Just like exit poll results are broadcast on television, they announced their prediction over the P.A. system after school, estimating that between 55 to 60 percent of the total vote would go to Kerry. As it turned out, after the 1,029 scantrons were counted, Kerry won 62 percent of the student vote.
       It-s a rare opportunity to have such a dynamic presidential election to motivate students and to give a statistics class the chance to have a real-life experience designing, compiling and reporting statistical surveys, said Curran. Twenty years from now, they may not remember the statistical formulas, but they-ll remember this mock election experience at North High School.