October 30, 2024
The Villages Charter Middle School Holds First-Ever Presidential Mock Election
By Kyle Coppola
The Villages Charter Middle School Holds First-Ever Presidential Mock Election
The Villages, FL — On October 29, 2024, students at The Villages Charter Middle School engaged in a hands-on civics lesson through the school’s inaugural Presidential Mock Election. The event, coordinated between the Buffalo Ridge and Middleton campuses, gave students the opportunity to experience the electoral process up close.
(Students had the opportunity to learn about the importance of voting and having a voice.)
Following the structure of the Electoral College, each grade level at both campuses was assigned a set number of electoral votes based on their population, closely mirroring the real-life voting system used in U.S. presidential elections. Social Studies classes took students to polling stations set up in the school media center, where they participated in a full voting procedure. Each student checked in, provided identification, cast their vote, and received an “I Voted” sticker before returning to class.
(Students were broken up into different sections of the USA.)
Prior to casting ballots, students were educated on the workings of the Electoral College, the winner-take-all system employed by most states, and candidate platforms. The aim was to prepare students to follow the upcoming national election with a new level of understanding after experiencing the process themselves.
(The school set up lifelike voting booths for students.)
=The mock election was deemed a resounding success, offering practical engagement in democratic practices. Mr. Austin Downey, a faculty member at the school, collaborated with the TV Production class to film a video recounting the election results, which will be aired on General Election Day, November 5, 2024. The video’s goal is to further support students in understanding election night coverage after their active participation.
(The entire library was setup like a real voting station. It was very well done.)
The experience underscores The Villages Charter Middle School’s commitment to fostering civic understanding among its students, hoping to inspire a lifelong interest in the democratic process.
(Signs pointing to the election station just like in real life. The students had a lot of fun learning about the voting process.)
Kyle Coppola was born in Newton, Massachusetts and received his Bachelor of Fine Arts in Communications from Curry College in 2016. After traveling to Florida on a family vacation, he decided he could not get enough of the warm weather and made the move from snowy Massachusetts to central Florida 8 years ago.
For the last decade Kyle has gained valuable experience in social media content creation, marketing and sales, writing, video production, sports announcing and even broadcasting for local radio stations, such as FM 102.9 in The Villages and FM 91.5 in Massachusetts. Every year he volunteers at The Villages Charter High School as a play-by-play sports announcer for the football games as well as a public address announcer for the basketball games, including the annual Battle at The Villages Tournament.
Outside the office Kyle is a husband and father to two beautiful girls along with their cat. In his spare time he likes to spend time with his family, travel, play golf and swim. He is also a huge sports junkie and even bigger motorsports fan and loves to attend racing events when he can.
