Students at Blue River School recently participated in their "Student Vote." This is an educational program developed by Elections Canada to inform and motivate the youth of Canada to become interested in the Canadian Election process. Over the past couple of weeks the older students have been learning all about the Canadian Government. They have become very informed on the history of the political parties, the levels and responsibilities of the government and who is involved in the elections. At the end of the program a "Student Vote" election takes place at school where the participating students are able to cast a mock ballot containing the real candidates in our Kamloops-Thompson-Cariboo riding. Their votes are counted and submitted to a national web site where they are combined with the results from all the participating schools around Canada. The National Student Vote results will be made public on their website next week when everyone has had a chance to submit their ballot results. This was a great experience for the students and it emphasized that the right to vote goes hand-and-hand with the responsibility to vote.
Submitted by John Blakley