Mundelein government students vote for the first time Friday

Several dozen Carmel Catholic High School students took a step into democracy Friday by voting for the first time.

As part of their advanced placement government classes, the 41 students from the Mundelein school crowded the polling place at the Lake County Central Permit Facility at 500 W. Winchester Road in Libertyville, to cast ballots in local, state and federal races in the March 17 primary election.

"I've always been a nerd for this kind of thing," teacher Jack Waddle said as he surveyed the juniors and seniors forming a line that went out the door of the early voting location.

"I'm really thrilled that I'm doing this. One of my goals is to make my students better citizens," said Waddle, who is also deputy Lake County registrar.

In the past, he has registered several of his students to vote, and he helped several more before they voted Friday, he said.

"We have a really good relationship with him. He encourages us to be a good citizen and be a part of our community," senior Terri Brinkman said after she voted using the electronic voting machine.

"I feel really good. I've been studying it, so it's good to put it into practice," Brinkman said.

Waddle said he called ahead to warn election officials that a busload of first-timers was coming. "They said they would try to get more help here," he said.

Indeed, the five election judges had their hands full with the inquisitive students. After 45 minutes, they asked Waddle if he would mind if other community residents at the back of the line could cut to the front so they could get back to work. He approved and so did the students, one saying she liked the idea of missing more Spanish class.

"I'm as proud of this as anything I've done as a teacher," Waddle said. "This is kind of a building block of sending them into the world."

Before boarding the bus to head back to their Mundelein school, the students gathered for a photo in front of the facility to commemorate their step into democracy.