Student Council elections are part of middle school. As a teacher I used to dread holding them in my classroom, until the year that most of my class ran. I know it sounds counter intuitive, but by having so many candidates I actually had to enforce “campaign rules”. Students also had to take their campaign seriously. Standing up and promising to make recess longer was not a campaign promise that anyone in the room was going to fall for, because everyone in the room was running. Here are the tips that changed the way I ran Student Council elections.
Encourage many students to run in your student council election
The more students who run the less of a popularity contest Student Council elections become. Students have to listen to multiple viewpoints and begin taking their vote more seriously. It also means that students who lose the election will be in the majority. This helps ease the pain for
students who don’t win.
Give each student multiple votes for the Student Council.
This works best if your class has more than one representative on the student council. Students get away from voting for their friends by having more than one vote. By having multiple votes students are once again encouraged to listen to the quality of one another’s speeches and think of each individual’s character.
Have campaign regulations
You can put limits on campaign spending in your classroom. Do not allow buttons, flyers, or other promotional materials to enter your classroom. Give each candidate large sheets of construction paper that they can use to make posters. Give students time in class to make their posters. For more ideas or to view my full lesson, click here: Building Community in Your Class Through a Student Council Election
Limit the actual campaigning time
Plan your student council lesson out and carefully map the time. You will want to spend weeks discussing government, the importance of representation, and the role of student government. The election process itself should be very abbreviated. Only allow a few days between the time you announce your election and the time students can vote. This prevents parents from taking over their student’s campaign and disregarding everything you’ve set up to make the election equitable and fair.
Hold your campaign on a Friday
Students may vote at any point during the day but announce the results as close to the end of the day as possible. The reality is everyone will not win, and this allows students to heal their wounds over the weekend privately.
For ideas on how I immerse my class into the American Revolution, click here.
Enjoy!
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