Katie sat in class and watched the TV screen before her class started. Her history teacher, Ms. Chisek, was going to let them watch the news the whole hour and discuss how they thought the upcoming presidential vote would go. They had been talking about politics for weeks, and frankly Katie was tired of it.
She propped her head up on her desk with her hand and tried to pay attention to the numbers running across the bottom of the screen. Did anyone really pay attention to them? She wondered to herself.
More students folded in to their metal seats and waited for the class to start.
“What boring stuff do you think we will cover today?” Katie asked Joe, who plopped down in the chair across from her.
“I don’t know, but I’m glad this election will be over tomorrow,” he said and idly watched the TV screen too.
“Really, is there anything interesting that ever goes on with an election?” Katie said to him, without realizing Ms. Chisek had come up to stand next to her desk.
“Well, there are a lot of fun and interesting things that go on during the election. You guys only hear the political ads on the radio and TV that don’t necessarily represent the best democratic process in the world.”
Katie’s face flooded with embarrassment as she heard her teacher. She didn’t mean she didn’t appreciate the democracy of the country, or the people who fought to protect those freedoms. But watching poll prediction and analysts was, well, boring to her.
“Does one vote really matter? The Electoral College is what determines who gets to be President, not the popular vote,” Joe said to her.
“The Electoral College does determine in the end who gets to be President, but it is the popular vote that determines which candidate gets those votes. And what about all of the other proposals and positions on a ballot? They are determined directly by the popular vote,” she answered.
“Yeah, I guess you’re right,” he mumbled.
She stepped back and addressed the class. “We are going to be having a little game of Election Trivia today. You’ve all been watching the news and reading articles, so you should have picked up some interesting tidbits about the election,” she began. She walked to the middle of the room and raised her hand between rows.
“This is the dividing line. Team one, team two,” she said and pointed to each one. There was some noise and the chairs and desks were slid around so the teams faced each other.
“Are there prizes for the winner?” someone asked from the back.
“Ha,” she said and continued back up to her desk, where she sat on the edge. “Two points for each correct answer. I will ask a question to team one. They will get 30 seconds to discuss their answer and then Joe, as the team captain, must give his answer. If it is wrong, team two can answer and steal their points. Katie, you get to be captain of team two.”
Katie wasn’t sure if she liked that position or not. Sure, she liked trivia games like everyone else, but when they were on more fun topics like movies or books or celebrities.
“OK,” she said and shrugged.
“Let’s start out with something fairly recent. Team one, when was the first televised, general election presidential debate held?”
Joe leaned in with others from his team and whispered a lot of dates. He sat up and looked at Ms. Chisek. “It was in 1960. Do we get bonus points if we know the two candidates?” he asked.
“No, but who was it anyway?” she asked.
Joe slumped a little but answered, “John F. Kennedy and Richard M. Nixon.”
“Very good,” she said with a smile. “Team two, your turn.” She flipped to the next note card and read, “Who are the only two women to be officially nominated for a position within the major political parties for election.”
“Ooh,” Katie said, before turning to her teammates. One was obvious, but they had to discuss the older candidate since no one really remembered her name. After some quick brainstorming, they remembered.
Katie answered, “Sarah Palin and Geraldine Ferraro.”
“Very good,” Ms. Chisek said as she flipped another card. “We are tied at two. Team one, how many states voted in the very first election?”
Joe frowned as he didn’t know. Luckily, the girls behind him seemed to know the answer. He turned and replied, “11?”
“Oh, so close,” Ms. Chisek responded. “Just ten. North Carolina and Rhode Island were not officially states in 1789. New York chose not to participate. Team two, you can move in to the lead. Who was the oldest person to be elected president?”
Katie knew this one, but she decided to consult her team. After just a second, she turned around and said, “Ronald Reagan.”
“Correct! You are in the lead. Team one, you need to tie it back up. Here’s your question. Who was the youngest president to be elected to the oval office?”
Joe didn’t even consult his team before he blurted out, “John F. Kennedy.” He smiled because he knew he was right.
“Correct. We are tied up again,” Ms. Chisek said as high fives were passed around that side of the room. Katie was beginning to feel a bit competitive. She didn’t like to lose!
Ms. Chisek turned to her team. “Next question, what are two of the three requirements to be able to run for the office of president?”
Ugh. Katie wanted to groan out loud but she didn’t. If only she had studied a little bit harder. This election stuff wasn’t that difficult to learn. Her team came up with what they thought were the right answers.
Katie cleared her throat and began. “You must be at least 35 years old and a natural born citizen of the United States.”
“That’s right,” Ms. Chisek said as the other team groaned. The competition was getting fierce between the classmates. It seemed bragging rights were all that was needed to make the trivia about elections fun.
“Back to team one,” Ms. Chisek said. “Now, you already mentioned the electoral college. What two things determine how many members there are for each state?”
Joe smacked his hand over his head. He didn’t look like he knew the answer, which made Katie happy. Her team would stay in the lead. He turned around and they talked until Ms. Chisek told them time was up.
“What is your answer, team?” she asked.
“It is based on the number of Senators for the state and…” he was hesitating.
“Correct,” Ms. Chisek prompted. “And….?”
“The number of US Representatives?” he said with a question in his voice. The room was quiet as they waited for the correct answer.
Ms. Chisek didn’t say anything for a moment. “That is correct. How many Senators are in each state?”
“What?” Joe said. “That’s more questions!”
“Anyone answer,” she said again.
“Two,” people from around the room shouted out.
“And how many representatives are in each state?” she asked. “Anybody can answer.”
There was some mumbling and a few less people who answered, “It depends on the population.”
“Last question,” she said and turned to team two. You can win if you get this one correct. How many electoral college votes are required for a person to win the election?”
“Ugh,” Katie groaned at the same time her neighbor did. “I don’t know this.”
The conferenced and tried to come up with a number. They knew there were at least three from every state. But not exactly how many in them all.
“Time. Your answer?”
Katie frowned as she looked at a smiling Joe. “We aren’t sure, but it is at least 250.” Katie said.
“Oooh, tough one,” Ms. Chisek said. “This year, there are 538 electoral votes for the election.”
Katie’s teammates sighed and flopped down in their seats.
Ms. Chisek smiled and nodded her head. “See, all of this TV watching with news on the election is worthwhile to you all. Doesn’t all of this knowledge make you want to go out and exercise your right to vote as a citizen?”
The class just stared back at her.
“Umm, we aren’t old enough yet,” someone said cautiously from the back.
“Well, I know that!” she said with a laugh. “But if you were old enough – which, by the way, what is the age you can vote?”
“Eighteen!” everyone replied back at the same time.
“Very good. I think I have to declare this trivia contest a tie. And for your prize – everyone gets to write a one page essay on who they think will win the election tomorrow and why.”
Her prize announcement was met with protests and groans. Ms. Chisek didn’t mind though as she turned back to her desk to watch the reporter discuss the latest poll number. Katie just laughed and started the outline to her essay. At least Ms. Chisek made learning the facts fun – and competitive!