In the spirit of the presidential election, Atidaynu held our own general election on Election Day, the 3rd of November. Our students learned all about the Presidential Candidates - Donald J. Trump and Joseph R. Biden. The students discovered that the presidential candidates are members of the two main political parties in America, the Republican Party, and the Democratic Party.
Each student had the opportunity to examine the party platforms of each candidate and were thoughtful about what they felt was important to them and the country. Our older students had the opportunity to research the candidate’s civil rights and tax reform positions and have written several papers on what they would do if they were president. Matanel Ben Hayun, an educator at Atidaynu humorously shared how “One student had such a hard time deciding who to vote for that he chose to vote for “Triden.”
When it came time to cast their ballot and vote, the students were extremely excited to back their favorite candidate and proudly wore their “I voted” stickers. When the ballots were cast and the votes tallied, Trump won by a landslide 17 votes to Biden’s 8. After our students demonstrated their ability to strongly advocate for their candidates and their beliefs, they settled down to enjoy their delicious TRUMP and BIDEN themed doughnuts with their teachers and friends.
Beyond teaching our students the importance of their civic duty and how democracy works in the United Stated of America, this was a great exercise in Atidaynu’s learning theme of the month, making the best choices you can.
“Many in the special needs community have great difficulty in making choices and following through on their decisions” Simi Bazov, Educational Director at Atidaynu, explained. “In Atidaynu, we felt that the presidential elections were a perfect opportunity to teach our students how to carefully consider different options by gathering information and thinking of the outcome that might occur based on their decisions.” She pointed out that “Our students made the choice they felt was not only best for them, but best for those around them as well.”