Students learn lessons from the midterm elections

While the midterm election results have real-life consequences, they also provided lessons for the next generation of voters.

Albert Contreras is a government and economics teacher at High Tech High School North County in San Marcos. This fall, he offered his class of seniors an opportunity for a true reality check.

“Here’s a sort of a big philosophical question. Do you think politicians should represent the will of the people, even the ones that don’t vote? Or just the people that vote?” Contreras asked his students during a Tuesday morning class.

They have followed the candidates from local, state, and national races and also researched all of the California propositions on this year’s ballot.

“I always want to be challenging my students, but I also want to validate them. So, even though they may have differing opinions from their neighbors and even differing opinions at home, I want to arm them with the truth through facts and figures and challenge them on preconceived notions,” Contreras told KPBS News.

Collin Hoyer turned 18 in September. He voted for the first time this past election day.

“I was excited to vote and do all this research and learn about the candidates and different propositions. I was kind of worried about some of the outcomes,” Hoyer said.

The High Tech High North County campus has a senior class of 95 students. Most of them are not old enough to vote yet. Sinqi Chapman,17, is one of them. She wants to study abroad in college and maybe visit her home country of Somalia.

Chapman said, “I’m proud to be an American and proud to challenge everything that is America. We have a lot of things we have to solve.”

The senior class conducted its own election early this month asking students in 9th through 11th grade to vote on all the California propositions.

The student results will be announced at a school assembly on Dec. 16 and those results will be compared to the actual election outcome. It is another teachable moment for Contreras.

“While some of them may not vote, I know they want to make a difference in their communities so I have great hope for the future,” he said.

Jack Mills, 17, said he would consider pre-registering to vote so he is eligible for the 2024 presidential election.

“It’s one vote in a ton of votes, and if my vote can help things get better, I think that’s important,” said Mills.

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