2008 Kids Voting Minnesota Poster Contest Winners Announced
Kids Voting Minnesota sponsored a statewide poster contest, and six Rochester students were among the finalists. The contest was open to all students in Kindergarten through 8th grade. Students were asked to create original artwork expressing their view of the theme “Exercise Your Right to Vote”
In the 6-8th Grade division, Rayna Wang of Rochester took 3rd Place.
Kids Voting Rochester executive director Judy Swenson (left) presents the 3rd place certificate for the 2008 Kids Voting Minnesota poster contest to Kellogg student Rayna Wang (center). 8th grade teacher Barb Kinczel (right)
Also in the In the 6-8th Grade division, Jack Koplin and Natasha Lenz were named as finalists. See Jack’s poster here, and click here for Natasha’s entry.
In the 3rd-5th Grade Division, three students were named as finalists: Alexander Brown, Emily Gullickson, and Shayla Buryska. Click each student’s name to see his or her work.
Right after the election on November 4th, 20 finalists were named. Minnesota Lynx players served as judges to select the first, second and third place finishers in the two divisions. To see all winners and finalists, click over to the Kids Voting Minnesota site.
4000+ Students Participate in Kids Voting Rochester 2008
Updated 11/13/2008 2:06 PM
Rochester school kids selected Barack Obama for president by a margin of 55% to 42%. The official vote total was 4174 for the city of Rochester and participating townships.
A special thank you to everyone who volunteered their time to make Kids Voting Rochester 2008 a success! About 375 volunteers helped staff 44 polling places in Rochester and surrounding townships.
Please visit the results page for complete Kids Voting Rochester Election results
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Post-Bulletin Article 11/5/2008
Obama, Coleman win among ‘Kids’
By Matt Russell
mrussell@postbulletin.com
The kids of Rochester have spoken: Barack Obama should be the next president of the United States.
Obama won 54 percent of the vote Tuesday as part of Kids Voting Rochester, an effort to get students
in kindergarten through 12th grade interested in the electoral process by encouraging them to go
to the polls with their parents.
In another kids’ voting effort, Obama beat McCain 5,871 to 3,533 in the Newspapers in Education election
in area schools, sponsored by the Post-Bulletin. Also in that election, Norm Coleman defeated Al Franken 422-333; and Tim Walz defeated Brian Davis 561-193. In Kids Voting Rochester, kids cast votes at booths separate from their parents, with kids’ results not counting toward official totals. The program is in conjunction with Kids Voting USA, a non-partisan organization aimed at educating and engaging kids
in the political process. (more…)
Obama, Coleman Win Among Kids-Post-bulletin 11-5-2008 FULL ARTICLE (PDF)
Election Day 2008 is Underway!
Please check out the photoblog – new items added 9:56 PM 11/4/2008
11/4/2008 – Today, thousands of Rochester area school kids have the opportunity to vote alongside their parents as part of Kids Voting Rochester.
While the ballots cast by kids are not counted in the official results, we will post the Kids Voting Results right here at www.kidsvotingrochester.org after the polls close at 8:00 PM. We’ll see where Rochester’s school kids voted in relation to the national, state and local elections. (If you’d like to see what the ballot looks like for Kids Voting Rochester, click here.)
When Can a Kid Vote?
Every Rochester polling place will have a Kids Voting area, as well as many of the surrounding townships. However, not every hour of Election Day will be staffed. Kids may vote at their parent’s usual polling place at the following times:
7:00 AM to 9:00 AM
3:00 PM to 8:00 PM
Because we rely on volunteers, and because most kids are in school between about 9 am and 3 pm, the Kids Voting tables will not be staffed during that time.
Where Do I Vote?
Kids should vote at the same polling place as their parents. If they’re not sure where that is, click on over to the Minnesota Secretary of State’s page and use the poll finder. It will tell you your exact polling place based on your address.
We’re planning for more than 8,000 students to cast ballots on Tuesday. In all we will have 44 polling places staffed, which includes five larger township sites. There will be a more informal presence of Kids Voting at 12 smaller township polling places.
There are approximately 375 volunteers that will be working on Kids Voting Rochester on Election Day, including these service groups that have ‘Adopted a Precinct‘: Rochester Senior Center, Cub Scout Pack 102, Olmsted County Youth Commission, and American Heritage Girls Explorers group.
Thank you to everyone who has volunteered to make this program a success. Have a great day on Tuesday!
Kids Voting Rochester Election Day News Release
11/4/2008 Rochester Ward 3 Precinct 3
Please check out the photoblog – new items added 4:06 PM
Previous News Postings…
Volunteer on Election Day!
Posted 10/29/2008
Kids Voting Rochester needs your help! We are still looking for poll workers on Election Day, Tuesday November 4th, to cover shifts at select polling places in Rochester. Volunteers will assist children who come to the polls with their parents, grandparents or other caregivers on Election Day to cast ballots in the Kids Voting program.
Kids Voting is a nationwide effort to increase voter turnout by getting kids in the habit of participating with their parents in elections.
There are around 200 volunteers already committed to this effort in Rochester. We have room for about 30 more.
The following shifts have openings:
7:00 AM – 9:00 AM
3:00 PM – 5:30 PM
5:30 PM – 8:00 PM
If you can commit to one of the time slots listed above, please send an e-mail to kidsvotingrochester@gmail.com and we will reply to you with your assignment.
Thank you for helping!
Kids Voting Minnesota Poster Contest
Posted 9/24/2008
Announcing the Kids Voting Minnesota 2008 K-8 “Exercise Your Right to Vote” Poster Contest. Click here for more details and the official entry form.
Kids Voting Rochester Kickoff
Posted September 20, 2008
Click here for our web album of photos. Thank you to Dave Swanson for the great photography!
Here’s the story KAAL 6 News filed on the event.
http://kaaltv.com/article/stories/S586976.shtml
Adopt A Precinct
If your group has at least 9 or more willing volunteers who can each commit to a few hours of work on election day in November, you can adopt a precinct! Click here for more details.
Attention All Rochester Educators!
Posted 8/29/2008
Kids Voting Rochester is back for this important presidential election on November 4, 2008. Students learn about democracy through a combination of classroom activities, family dialogue, and an authentic voting experience on Election Day. In addition to valuable civics lessons about voting and elections, students also explore the right to vote, democracy, and active citizenship. Please click here for a PDF containing more information for Rochester teachers from local Kids Voting Director Judy Swenson.
Kids Voting Minnesota December 2007 Newsletter
- Kids Voting Minnesota Makes News In Japan
- Minnesota Viking Star Helps Define Democracy
- Kids Voting Duluth Debate Gives Students a Voice
Click here of for the PDF version the December 2007 Kids Voting Minnesota Newsletter
