Three Grade 5 students from St. Brendan Catholic Elementary School in the Town of Whitchurch-Stouffville were recently given an opportunity they will never forget. Nicholas R., Benjamin G., and Ryan H. presented campaign speeches that they worked on for their classes’ coursework on government to the Whitchurch-Stouffville Town Council, during its December 1st meeting.
All three Grade 5 classes at the Stouffville school were challenged to run election campaigns as part of the coursework they were learning having to do with government. Each class ran an election that saw students build campaign teams, choose candidates to run for mayor or prime minister, create a platform, as well as, brochures and election signs. Each leader then presented their campaign speech for their parents and some of the school’s students. Students were then given the opportunity to vote, as they learned more about participation in our Canadian democracy.
Whitchurch-Stouffville Mayor, Justin Altmann, attended one of the elections and was so impressed with the speeches and the candidates, that he invited the three elected students, Nicholas, Benjamin, and Ryan to present their speeches at a Whitchurch-Stouffville Town Council Meeting on December 1st.
At the Town Council Meeting, the mayor presented each student with a certificate, and while each student delivered their speech from the mayor’s chair, they were also given his chain of office to wear. The students did a great job and were grateful for the amazing opportunity.
Mayor Altmann even joked that he might be losing his job to one of these students in the next couple years.
St. Brendan CES sincerely thanks Mayor Altmann for giving the students an additional platform to shine.
