School’s Elections Mirror U.S. Politics

With all the ceremony, enthusiasm and confusion befitting a national political convention, students at Alemany High School on Monday nominated their future leaders in an annual rite of democracy designed to simulate the United States political process.

“Organized chaos” was how one administrator described Monday’s convention, which narrowed the field of candidates for Alemany’s top offices from four to two tickets.

The day started with the candidates making a series of “whistle stop” speeches before the various delegations in an effort to drum up support leading into the convention.

It ended with the delegations announcing their selections inside a raucous “convention hall” filled with more than a thousand students. In between, the delegations voted on platforms, developed planks and caucused for the selection of their favorites.

Unlike recent presidential conventions held by the major political parties, Alemany’s event was buffeted by the drama of not knowing which candidates would win.

When the cheering stopped and the final votes were tallied, two juniors, Everett Bennett and Tracy Gauci, came out on top. They will face off Wednesday for the honor of serving as next year’s associated student body president.

“I’ve been preparing since my freshman year for this,” said Tracy before the vote that put her ticket on Wednesday’s ballot. . . . It’s been a fun experience and I’ve learned a lot about how politics works.”

“I didn’t expect to do this well,” said Everett, whose platform calls for getting more students involved in extracurricular activities such as athletics and student government.

Unlike many schools, where only a handful of students participate directly in campus elections, Alemany’s annual election convention requires the whole school to get involved, said social studies teacher Vivian Johnston.

“Before, we had a student government that was basically a popularity contest. There were no serious candidates,” Johnston said.

“Now they have to have ideas and go out and share them with the other students. It’s really improved the quality of our student government.”