Election of the members of the Student Council in our Primary School

Thursday 12th November was election day at the Primary School. The students had to vote in a new council + president and vice-president of the Student Council.

On the morning of the elections, one by one, the pupils entered the school lobby, now converted into a polling station, complete with a table for the election staff, a waiting area, a polling booth and a ballot box.

The students came equipped with the ID card they had previously made in class. Their names had to be checked against a list, and their ID had to be stamped at the time of their vote. At the table of the election staff they received slips for the candidates. Then they waited their turn before being escorted to the voting booth, where they could make their choice in the utmost privacy. In case of need, a 6th grader was standing by to help.

Everything went according to plan except for two irregularities. Carmella, the School principal, happened to notice that campaign posters were still hanging in the polling station, so she removed these personally. And the third grade class had forgotten to make IDs, so instead, they were required to leave their thumb prints on the voter roster.

The candidates campaigned with lots of enthusiasm during recent days. They prepared many creative campaign posters that they placed all over the school. All the candidates were promoting peaceful values, showing their willingness to contribute to improving the life our their fellows during the school year.

Among the campaign promises: "I am running for head of the student council - my vision is to improve the school and make peace between the students... I will plan activities between classes like drawing competitions, rope jumping and sack races. I will be happy to hear additional ideas... I want to bring back the table tennis board that every child in the school enjoyed..." Another candidate said that she wouldn’t make any false promises but that because she believed in the wisdom of the students, she would try her best to fulfill what everyone wants.

The candidates for president were from the sixth grade and the candidates for vice-president were from the fifth grade. The candidates ran in Jewish-Palestinian teams, in accord with the vision of the School. In addition to choosing a president and vice president, the students had to vote for council members for each class.

When all the votes were counted, Shahd was declared the winner. Since Yaara and Maya received the same number of votes, she will have two vice-presidents. They and the student council will assume their term of office, meeting once a month to decide on important things like the celebration of holidays and many other matters of concern to the students. In the beginning they will be helped by teachers and parents.

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