“Vote for Gummy Worms!” “Kit Kat for President!” “Vote for Hershey Now!”
Political discourse was at its finest these past two weeks when the 4th Grade Candy Election was conducted. Four elections were held, one in each 4th grade cohort, where students learned all about the election process. “U.S. Government is part of the 4th grade Social Studies curriculum,” shared Fourth Grade Teacher Jen Van Dyken. “First, we nominated candies. Then, we held a primary to select two candidates. Once the candidates were chosen, the students chose the campaign they wanted to support.” From there, the students had about a week to make posters and merchandise, write ads and speeches, and prepare for the debates.
To help with breaking potential ties, the 4th grade classes were joined virtually by the Upper School Presidential Politics class as well as some faculty and staff. Presidential Politics Teacher Kristin Roberts said, “We’ve been studying campaign strategy, so I thought this would be a great way to have some fun in considering the components that go into a campaign’s strategy to persuade an electorate. My Presidential Politics students were really excited to participate and were impressed with the work that the 4th grade students put into these projects from the speeches and debate prep to the videos, slides, and even merchandise! The Candy Elections prompted great discussion in my classes about what strategies and even ‘soundbites’ persuaded us as voters and to what extent it reflected the strategies we’ve been studying in class.”
Here are the results of the Candy Elections:
- Kit Kat beat Gummy Worms
- Crunch Bar beat Baby Bottle Pops
- Kit Kat beat Hershey’s
- Sour Patch Kids beat Nerds
- “It was fun learning how to campaign.” – Isabelle G. ’29
- “It felt like a real election.” – Noah M. ’29.
- “It was fun and challenging at the same time and included lots of teamwork.” – William R. ’29
Several Upper Schoolers also reflected on the 2020 Candy Election. Luke Rickers ’21 stated, “It was very cool that the 4th graders hosted a classroom Candy Election to learn about our real-world election process, and it was very clear that we have some future politicians in our Beasley community!”
“I was impressed by the 4th Grade Candy Election, and I’m glad the Kit Kat campaign rode their advertising prowess to a dominant victory,” shared Cal Barton ’21. “The 4th grade presenters were very well-prepared—and unlike real politicians, they actually answered the questions they were asked rather than the questions they wanted to answer!”
Andrew Lindsey ’21 enjoyed the juxtaposition of the light-hearted candy election in comparison to this week’s general election. “Being in a class about the current election, it was a breath of fresh air watching our Beasley kids work in teams to present why their candy is fundamentally better than the rest using only the strongest of facts and solid logic,” he said. “Props to the debaters who made me rethink my favorite candy!”
“It was a fun experience,” echoed Erik Kuznetsov ’21. “I thought the 4th graders were very convincing and put lots of effort into the election. I especially liked how the person debating Kit Kats compared and explained how her candy bar was better than Hershey. She argued that Hershey is just ‘chocolate with a little sugar.’ In return, the person debating the Hershey bar explained how there were many different varieties of Hershey bars, unlike Kit Kat. All in all, it showed a lot of passion and was something they clearly enjoyed.”
As you watch the tally of the general election results, perhaps consider grabbing a piece of Halloween candy to munch on and think of this sweet, local election!