A class of grade five students took what was supposed to be a year-end mock-election assignment and turned it into a real-life opportunity to raise money for charity.
Earlier this month, students in Teresa Palahicky’s class at Veritas Catholic School took part in a fake election in order to learn about how the Canadian government works.
Student Sophia Franco ran as Liberal leader on a platform of giving to charity and helping people cope with problems like bullying.
Her opponent, Mackenzie Gorman, ran as NDP leader with the campaign promise of “recycling and helping the school to buy sports equipment and textbooks.”
The assignment required the girls to make posters, and give a speech to the class about their vision for the school before the whole class would vote for their leader.
But to Palahicky’s surprise, the class took it to another level by actually acting out their election promises – over three days, the students arranged a bake sale and lemonade stand to raise money for their respective causes.
And they did it all under their teacher’s nose. “I had no idea they were doing any of this,” said Palahicky.
After coming up with the idea for the bake sale and deciding who would do and bake what, the students went to the principal and asked him to put their sale on the next day’s announcements. Then they spent their lunch hour selling their goods to the rest of the school.
The class raised $171.84 in total. “Not a small feat for having organized the sale in three days,” said Palahicky. With the money, the class bought sports equipment for the school and donated a portion to the local animal shelter.
As for the results of the election, Franco was voted Prime Minister, with Gorman a close second, making her Leader of the Opposition.