GOSHEN COUNTY – Five students in Andrea Eisenbarth’s 8 a.m. Modern American Studies class do what a lot of adults can’t: they have civil discussions about the upcoming presidential election.
Eisenbarth assigned a project on Oct. 27, one week before the upcoming election, in which students research each candidate’s position on various topics, such as the economy, abortion, immigration and health care. They researched positions held by President Donald Trump and former Vice President Joe Biden, as well as two third-party candidates, Howie Hawkins of the Green party and Jo Jorgensen of the Libertarian Party. From there, students decided which issues were their “deal breakers” that would bring them to vote for one candidate over the other.
Social studies teachers throughout Goshen County School District No. 1 are taking advantage of the current situation that is history in the making, educating their seniors about civics through the lens of the contentious 2020 presidential election.
Not all seniors will be 18 years old and able to vote as of election day, but Eisenbarth said her job is to prepare them for the day they can have their say in American government.
“I see a lot of things online about how kids don’t know civics and it blows my mind that there are people out there who think we don’t (teach) that,” Eisenbarth said. “It’s the hub of what I do. That’s what history is.”
According to Kevin Derby, social studies instructional facilitator for GCSD, the district’s social studies curriculum touches on civics and elections first in eighth grade and again in students’ senior year in Modern American Studies. Units on political parties and researching candidates are taught every year. The difference in 2020 is the fact that they are based on situations taking over the 24-hour news cycle.
Derby teaches a concurrent political science class in which his students receive college credit. None of his 10 students will be eligible to vote on Nov. 3, he said.
“We talk about, what are some other ways you can be engaged beyond just voting?” Derby said. “That’s one piece of the pie. There’s lots of other things you can do. And even just being informed is a huge piece of engagement, even though you maybe can’t participate.”
Eisenbarth doesn’t shy away from political discussions in class, but she’s sure to continually remind students to be respectful of one another and their opinions.
In fact, one section of her whiteboard is devoted to an ideological spectrum ranging from liberal to conservative, where students identify themselves and where they land on the metaphorical scale with a sticky note bearing their name.
Before they label themselves definitively, Eisenbarth has students take a quiz about their beliefs that either solidifies how they identify themselves or sometimes surprises them.
“It’s not that I want to teach them what to think, I want to teach them how to think,” Eisenbarth said.
Teaching students how to think and be informed has primarily shifted into lessons on effectively taking in media, recognizing bias and discerning fact from fiction, according to Eisenbarth, Derby and Lingle-Fort Laramie High School Modern American Studies teacher AJ Gross.
Gross said in addition to having his students watch the news, he has them go straight to the source: Biden’s and Trump’s campaign websites and polling sites like 270towin.com, to keep track of Senate and House races as well.
He said he has a few students who are eligible to vote this year, so they intend to walk to Lingle Community Center on Election Day so they can vote and students who aren’t eligible can still observe the process.
“Our society tries to really get you to fit into a corner and take a political ideology, and then, later on, justify why you believe what you do,” Gross said. “It’s critical that kids go and engage in research for themselves.”
According to Eisenbarth’s political ideology chart, the majority of her class identifies as conservative or moderate conservative. This isn’t always the case, she said, as in previous semesters, she’s had a number of liberal students as well, which made conversations more interesting.
One of her students, Reece Robertson, said he holds conservative opinions like most of his classmates, but he’d prefer to see a better mix of ideologies.
“This class really doesn’t have a whole lot of people that differ from me,” Robertson said. “It would be nice some days to maybe have someone that is on the opposite end. It’s nice to be able to be around people and discuss this stuff.”
Eisenbarth said when there have been more diverse groups of students in the past, their conduct provided a good example of bipartisanship.
“I really wish I could send that group to D.C. so that our legislators could see how it’s supposed to work, how the discussions are supposed to run, how you can get along and get something done,” she said.
Each educator said they keep their own political affiliations to themselves, because ultimately, it’s about showing students how to be engaged and informed citizens.
“We don’t have to agree on everything,” Gross said. “We’ve got to work together as we get older and be part of these communities, so it’s okay to have differing opinions.
