BUFFALO, N.Y. — Students at Elmwood Franklin School were voting for their favorite flavor of ice cream. But it served as a lesson in the electoral process.
Here's the scoop.
Passionate posters line the halls of Elmwood Franklin School. They’re giving pre-kindergarten through eighth graders a delicious lesson in the electoral process.
“We’re voting for ice cream flavors,” said Cole Rajkovich, a second grader at Elmwood Franklin School.
“They're all good flavors, but I still don't know which one to choose from,” said Ophelia Hettich, a third grader at Elmwood Franklin School.
“I like lots of sprinkles,” Rajkovich said.
“I really like to have panda paws and cookie dough,” Hettich said.
Their choices are chocolate, vanilla or strawberry. A tough decision for students like Hettich whose favorites aren’t on this ballot. But lucky for her, teachers Caroline Pierce, Joseph Aquino and Christine Cooke-MacVittie have her covered.
They've been campaigning for the three flavors and they took it very seriously through campaign videos and a debate.
“Don’t really say anything bad about any other ice creams or yourself. It's supposed to be more of a positive thing,” said student council president Jeremiah Reinecke.
Reinecke moderated the debate. He asked each candidate 10 questions. For his peers, there were two scoops to take away. Being an educated voter was one.
“Really understanding their opinions can really just get a better standpoint of where they're coming from and maybe what their ideas are," he said of the other. "And maybe you can see their ideas are actually better.”
Civic and being civil while engaging is the cherry on top for these 340 students.
“Whatever your beliefs are, we want to all be in community together,” said Ryan Kimmet, head of school at Elmwood Franklin. “And I hope that can be a model for our kids as they move on past our school and into the world. That these topics don't need to divide us in such strong ways.”
It wasn’t a popular contest, either. Flavors must win each homeroom to get the votes.
“I also like chocolate, but I'm voting for strawberry,” Rajkovich said.
The results are in, and the ice cream flavor that won the popular vote did not win the electoral vote.
Popular Vote
- Vanilla: 129
- Strawberry: 89
- Chocolate: 146
Electoral Vote
- Vanilla: 42
- Strawberry: 17
- Chocolate: 39
They will be serving vanilla ice cream for dessert on Friday.