Simulation puts Lake Park students in Iowa caucuses

Full of enthusiasm for their candidate and armed with free campaign buttons to hand out, Connor McMahon and Anthony Clark recently fired up a classroom full of Democratic caucus members and persuaded a clear majority of them to back Bernie Sanders for president.

A full 55 percent threw their support to Sanders, leaving Martin O'Malley with 25 percent and presumed front-runner Hillary Clinton with a mere 20 percent.

Clearly the results of the caucus in this classroom were different from the numbers that came out of the Iowa caucuses this week.

The important part, Don Fulmer will tell you, is that the process was the same and the participants learned quite a bit about how the Iowa caucuses work and why they're important as the nation begins the process of choosing our next president.

Fulmer teaches AP Government at Lake Park High School in Roselle. And having a presidential primary season coinciding with his class provided the perfect opportunity for his student to learn in real time.

In the Iowa caucuses, supporters of the candidates speak on their behalf, trying to persuade other voters to back their candidate. So Fulmer assigned each student a candidate to support — regardless of any predispositions the students may have had toward a candidate.

Students researched their candidates' positions on issues. They looked into who supports the candidates and the criticism the candidates face. They even contacted the candidates' campaigns for stump-speech handouts.

Then they spent three days “in Iowa,” one day simulating a Democratic caucus and two days as a Republican caucus, with all the students participating as members of both parties.

So if we're in Illinois, why are AP Government students focusing on Iowa?

“Iowa is first, that's why,” said Fulmer, Lake Park's social studies curriculum leader. “Historically, the Iowa caucus is the first show of strength as a candidate and there is an element of the unknown.”

Through the mock caucus, Fulmer hopes his students will gain insight into the complexities of elections.

“I'd like the students to see that nothing is preordained; despite polls and images, you don't know.”

Student Francesca McCallister said the experience has made her better informed.

“When you're not politically aware at the beginning, you don't look at the candidates' websites and see what they really stand for; you just see what the media says about them,” she said.

“Once you watch the debates and talk about it with other people that are informed, you get to have a conversation.”

With hands full of Sanders campaign buttons, the conversation in AP Government took off. One student compared Clinton's “electability” for president to Nicholas Cage's “castability” in films. Questions shot from left and right about the Clinton's trustworthiness, Sanders' plans to fight ISIS, and the reality of O'Malley's goals.

Finally, the time came to caucus. Students gathered in the various corners of Fulmer's classroom to show their beliefs. Sanders won more than 55 percent of the caucus participants, followed by O'Malley with 25 percent and Clinton with 20 percent.

Afterward, a show of hands indicated that every one of Fulmer's students that day felt the activity had increased their interest in the election. A majority of the class also said they were better prepared to make an informed decision come November.

Many students remarked that they thoroughly enjoyed the experience. The interaction provided through the simulation allowed students the opportunity to open the door to conversation with their peers.

Student Nick Gricus found his peers' interpretation of the candidates eye-opening.

“It's different hearing it through your colleagues and people your own age instead of hearing it through someone older than you,” he said.

Not only are Lake Park students more interested in the election, but they have been enlightened by their interactive experience. Student Joe Santoro noted his disappointment that not all students receive the same lesson on the electoral system.

“Not enough people know about this,” Santoro said, “and I think more social studies and history classes should really take the time to do the same thing that we are doing.”