Does our vote even matter? What does the Electoral College even do?: November Meeting Reflections

Mentee Kennedy Moses asks a question about the electoral college

This election season gave us a glimpse of how exciting and heated politics can become as Donald Trump and Hilary Clinton competed to become the 2016 Presidential Elect. As we developed our own questions about how the American democracy operates, we knew that our mentees would too and aimed to make sure they were well informed about the politics of the society they live in. Thus, our November meeting focused on educating our mentees and ourseleves on what the election results mean for America’s future and the intricacies of electing a president. Mentors and mentees engaged in an open presentation and discussion that elucidated topics such as the differences between the republican and democratic party, the importance of voting, and who and what the electoral college really does.  

Mentor Briana Lambert discusses the differences between the Trump and Clinton platforms

At the end of our discussion, each mentee proposed her own slogan and elaborated on a three point platform that she would implement as the president elect.  Mentee and 9th grader Tameisha Platt-Lasane's platform points were Education, Healthcare, and Foreign Policy and her slogan was " To do better, we must be great." Agreeing with Tameisha's slogan, mentors and mentees opted to take her slogan and implement in our own lives. We wouldn't be surprised if one our mentees happens to be elected for president in future elections. 

​By Laura Campbell

Mentee Tenia Sanders laughs as she has her answer about the importance of voting answered