Each candidate was flanked by “Secret Service agents,” student volunteer dressed in suits and wearing dark sunglasses. Selected students then worked with members of the MTMS social studies department to craft speeches that presented the candidates’ policies, while also incorporating a bit of their personalities as well.Īt the assembly, the candidates spoke to a large crowd in the patriotically decorated performing arts center. In September, students interested in representing this year’s candidates completed a lengthy application, sample speech, and quiz on knowledge of the candidates.

More than simply an activity where students pick their favorite candidate, the activity puts students in a leadership role, and gives them all a first-hand look at the functioning of the electoral college.

28, sixth-, seventh-, and eighth-grade students representing the Democratic, Republican, Green and Independent parties’ presidential and vice presidential candidates spoke to the student body in a carefully-choreographed presentation in the Marasco Performing Arts Center.Ī long-held tradition at the Monroe middle school, the speeches were part of a larger simulated presidential election, which has been held every four years since the 1980s. It wasn’t CNN, nor was it a televised debate but a recent assembly at Monroe Township Middle School brought the energy, drama, and politics of the current presidential election alive for its students.

Monroe township high school auditorium