Josh Roberts teaches eighth grade Social Studies at Hancock County Middle
School. Each year he teaches his five classes a unit of Jacksonian
Democracy.

"We are learning how he (Andrew Jackson) won the 1828 election, and the
tactics he used," Roberts said.

As part of the unit, he holds a Principal-for-a-Day contest. The election
occurred Wednesday, February 3. The press deadline prevented the reporting
of the winner.

Each of his five classes chooses one candidate to run for principal, and
another to run as vice-principal. The candidates then develop an issues
platform, and then organizes a school-wide campaign to win the election. The
nominating class serves as the campaign staff for the candidates. Roberts
said the kids love the exercise, and develop some clever ideas to deliver
their campaign themes.

"It gets them motivated to learn about the voting process, and how our
government works," Roberts said. "They are motivated to get involved."

This year, the five eighth grade classes nominated Whitney Bennett for
principal and Brodie Payne as vice-principal, Tori Kirk and Kasey Clark and
Jake Powers and Sam Mattingly. The eighth graders also nominated Logan Cheek
for principal and Dusty Sullivan for vice-principal, and Daniel Logsdon and
Kyle Beavin.

Each ticket outlined its platform for the election. Whitney Bennett and
Brodie Payne presented their platform first.

"Our platform is for kids to organize games and activities for wellness,
hold more out-of-school dances and fundraisers to raise money for PTO Fun
Day and to lower AR points," Whitney said.

Though Whitney mentioned allowing choices during wellness, she stressed
lowering AR points and fundraising during the interview. AR stands for
Accelerated Reading, and each nine-weeks the school requires students to
earn 15 points.

Whitney said students surveyed wanted the points lowered to 12. She said the
amount of schoolwork and extracurricular activities made it hard to earn the
15 points. As an example, Whitney said she played softball, along with other
sports.

"For students that engage in many extracurricular activities, it is hard to
find the time to read," she said.

Whitney and Brodie want to hold more fundraisers such as dances and bake
sales to raise additional funds for the end of year PTO Fun Day. Whitney
mentioned charging 50-cents admission to dances, and having parents donate
different types of fudges and other candies for a bake sale.

The additional funds are to bring a wider array of activities to the fun
day. Brodie mentioned bringing in more slides, and even laser tag. Whitney
gave an altruistic motive behind the push.

"We want to find something for the kids that have disabilities to do," she
said. "That way, they can have fun."

Tori Kirk and Kasey Clark

The second slate of candidates in the Principal-for-a-Day contest are Tori
Kirk and Kasey Clark. These candidates possess unique issues.

"Our platform is allowing kids to have cellphones outside of classrooms, and
more extracurricular activities," Tori said.

They seek permission for students to use their cellphones to make calls
during the break between classes, during breaks and lunch. The pair also
wants the school to offer additional extracurricular activities.

The candidates arrived at this request by polling seventh graders. The
survey revealed a deep desire for activities not related to sports or
academics. She said the top choices included a drama club and a dance team.

"They all wanted something they could do after school," Tori said.

Jake Powers and Sam Mattingly

Jake and Sam chose two interesting positions as their platform. They want
longer breaks, a break at the end of the day and to use electronics
(cellphones, IPods and games) during lunch and break times.

"We want longer breaks because it is the only time we get the freedom to do
what we want," Jake said. "We want our break to be 10 minutes longer."

Not only did they want an extended break, the candidates wanted to move the
eighth grade break time to the end of the day. They said at their current
break time, they are not tired yet and do not need it. A break later in the
day helps them refocus on the day's lessons.

Jake and Sam also want to change school policy to allow the use of
cellphones and other electronic devices during breaks and lunch. They said
many times kids go to the office to use the school phone to contact their
parents, but cannot get to the phone.

They said allowing kids to play electronic games during lunch helps the
lunchroom monitor. With students engrossed in playing their games, or
listening to music, they would be quieter and more well-behaved.

Logan Cheek and Dusty Sullivan

Logan Cheek and Dusty Sullivan picked two issues as their campaign platform.

They want to have break at the end of the day, and to let students choose
what activities to engage in during wellness.

The two said their early break time, around 10 a.m., does them little good
because they are not tired yet. They want to move the break to 2:15 p.m.

This time frame allows them to rejuvenate before the day ends.

Logan and Dusty also want to allow students to choose their own activities
during wellness.

"It's usually what the teacher decides to do," Logan said.

The usual activities include walking the stairs, or playing a game called
Rainbow. The pair said students should be able to choose between football,
basketball or other activities during wellness.

Daniel Logsdon and Kyle Beavin

Daniel Logsdon and Kyle Beavin chose a platform of expanding break options,
and including more fun days. Daniel said expanding the break options
benefits mostly the sixth and seventh graders.

Daniel said eighth graders already go to the gym and play basketball and
other games after lunch, but sixth and seventh graders usually stay in the
lunch room.

"We want to open it up so they have the option to do more things," Daniel
said.

Kyle said the pair wanted to incorporate more fun days into the school
calendar. The pair said a fun day, such as a crazy hat day or some other
theme, once a month is their goal. Except for last week, when the school
held a different theme nearly every day, fun days occur about every two
months, they said. They said more fun days makes school even more
interesting.