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Ruskin Kids Take Part In Early Voting

Tribune photo by JOHN CEBALLOS

Fifth-grader Angelica Garcia casts her vote online during Ruskin Elementary's first Kids Voting Tampa Bay event at the school. The goal is to educate young voters about the democratic process.

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By JOHN CEBALLOS

jceballos@tampatrib.com

Published: November 4, 2008

Updated:

RUSKIN - Some student voters in Hillsborough and surrounding counties aren't 18, but they're not letting that stop them from casting their ballot in this year's election.

They are taking part in Kids Voting Tampa Bay, which will reach more than 400,000 elementary, middle and high school students this year. Kids Voting Tampa Bay is a nonprofit organization with a mission to prepare young people to be educated voters.

On Oct. 28, Ruskin Elementary School participated for the first time.

"Voting is a privilege a lot of our students' parents don't have because they're immigrants, but it's something their kids will be able to do one day," said Donna Ippolito, principal.

"We're encouraged to stay away from any partisan stuff, so we've been focusing on what a privilege it is to vote in this country," said fifth-grade teacher Mary Valesano, who is serving as the school's election coordinator.

In the weeks leading up to Election Day, all students participated in lessons about the voting process and democracy.

Each student also received a voter identification number to input on the project's Web site on the day of their school's election. Online voting in Hillsborough County was Oct. 27 to 31.

Students in kindergarten through second grade voted exclusively in the presidential race, while grades three through five voted in the presidential race, as well as for one candidate for the House of Representatives.

The results will be revealed shortly after Election Day.

After the students cast their votes, they were invited to take part in election-themed activities, including a word search and a station where students made bookmarks. Each session, which included all of the school's classrooms, took about 15 minutes.

Members of the school's PTA decorated the school's media room for the event.

Mary Valesano and the PTA "put everything together - we just happened to already have the decorations," said Lynn Kendrick, who works in the school's media center.

Valesano also had a group of her fifth-graders assist the younger students throughout the day.

"We've learned a lot about voting, and today's been pretty interesting," said fifth-grader Armando Antonio.

LEARN MORE

To find out more about Kids Voting Tampa Bay, visit www.kvtb.org.

Reporter John Ceballos can be reached at (813) 865-1555.

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