Byron-Bergen fourth graders learned about the American election process by conducting their own election - from the formation of political parties through the final vote tallies.

Early in October, the fourth graders read The Kid Who Ran For President, a book that teaches about the election process through the eyes of a young boy who runs for president as a joke.

Then the fourth grade classes were divided in half – the three classrooms on one side of the hall were to form one political party, the three on the other side an opposing party. They were given four issues on which to develop positions – environment, education, violence and gun control. Candidates from each side of the hall ran in primaries to garner the top ticket for their parties. A convention was held and runners-up became the vice presidential candidate and the campaign manager.

The American Eagles and the Future Party then conducted a full-blown political campaign complete with position papers, posters, stickers, commercials and debates. Their targets were the third graders who voted for a president and vice president on October 26. Exit polls showed the most important issue to the third graders was the environment.

The winner? The American Eagle Party. Unlike the national election this week, a recount of the votes wasn’t necessary. Although the exact vote tally has not been disclosed to students, the American Eagle’s win was decisive.

"It seemed that the third graders felt that the Eagles’ ideas about solving environmental problems were more practical," said fourth grade teacher Lyndsey Lange.

This was the first such complete election effort in the Byron Bergen elementary school, Lange said. The effort was made as a way to "align our social studies curriculum with state standards," Lange said. "This is a more creative, more hands-on way to teach the kids about how our government works."

Byron-Bergen’s election process even included an electoral college with each classroom representing a state.

"We talked a lot about being good sports," Lange said, explaining that negative campaigning, a staple of adult politics, never even crossed the kids’ minds. "We feel the kids really got excited about the issues and learned about the election process in a positive way."