It’s never too soon to educate kids about the political process and the meaning of Veterans Day. On the Monday before each occasion, substitute teacher Isabella Fasciano taught 1st graders at Union City’s St. Augustine School about how elections work, and tutored them in writing appreciative notes to a local Vietnam veteran.
For Election Day, she had students vote on two candidates to serve as their mascot, Ms. Teddy Bear and Mr. Reindeer. The kids came up to the ballot box one at a time and placed their vote in a gold metallic gift bag. Later they colored “I Voted” buttons to wear proudly after participating in the election.
Like real politicians, both candidates made promises, Teddy to bring in cupcakes if she won and Reindeer to bring in chocolate chip cookies. Reindeer won, and Ms. Fasciano brought in the cookies on the following Monday.
For Veterans Day she read a book and told them about her neighbor and veteran, Bob Carroll. She handed out coloring pages and asked them to write a note of thanks to Bob.
Later she gave the pages to Bob on Veterans Day and reported that he was very touched.
First graders learn about politics and war
