At this week's Middle School assembly, 8th graders led a conversation on the history of voting in the United States to teach students about eligibility, the dangers of voter suppression, and the ways Americans can make their voices heard.

 

8th graders Aminata Diallo ’25 and Rohan Shah ’25 joined MS Service Chairs Ms. Mingey and Mr. Quain and 8th Grade Social Studies Teacher Dr. Williams to lead the 7th and 8th grade assembly. Ameneh Vaskio ’25 and Justin Khan ’25 led the assembly for 4th, 5th, and 6th graders.

 

In their presentations, students provided a timeline on voting restrictions based on race, gender, age, disabilities, and felony status through methods such as poll taxes and literacy tests. Students also used this time to explain the different ways that New Yorkers can participate in the election and express their civic right to vote as a crucial part of our democracy.

 

The Dalton Alumni Council was pleased to welcome Chris Jenkins '89, David Litt '04, Lisa Pino '87, and guest Norman Ornstein as they shared their professional experience in this panel discussion on the state of play of the 2020 presidential election.

 

 

7th and 8th graders dug deep into statistical modeling to engage with the election process in a mathematical way.

 

In their digitalDalton math classes, students used real life data to interpret voting trends and predict the outcome of the presidential election through electoral college votes. After teachers assigned each group a state, students conducted research in their Zoom rooms to explore data from past elections including polling averages, voter demographics, voter turnout, and voting patterns. Students also used this time to analyze other determining factors such as current polls, the Covid-19 pandemic, states’ preferred news sources, and regional weather patterns such as the impending Hurricane Zeta predicted to affect Florida and Louisiana. Groups concluded the lesson by presenting their findings to their classmates and explaining their data-based reasoning.

 

A special thanks to faculty members Alex Bertrand, Alexandra Nimetz, Cory Cowles, Innana Donnelley, and Leo Chen for creating this creative and relevant lesson!