By the SHS Talon staff

Some upperclassmen began school on Tuesday with a real-life lesson in civics: they voted in the Sharon town election. 

Social Studies, Science and ELA teachers Courtnay Malcolm, Bernadette Murphy, Nivedi Das, and Lisa Jolicoeur brought their senior classes to the polls, which were held in the gymnasium. For some students, it was their first time voting; others had voted in the recent presidential primary election.

The SHS students were among 4,012 residents who voted. Town clerk Mark Hogan announced last night on Sharon TV that 29.3 percent of eligible townspeople cast their ballots in this election, which was a good turnout.

Ms. Murphy said it’s important for all citizens to vote because “it keeps democracy alive.” She added that Social Studies teachers encourage students to become informed about candidates, issues, and current events leading up to elections.

Social Studies teachers pointed out that voting in local elections is as important, if not more important, than national elections. 

“The issues in national elections may be more important, but one’s vote counts more in local elections, and, arguably, the people elected in your local elections have more impact on your day to day life,” Mr. Sean O’Reilly said.

Ms. Malcolm agreed that voting in local elections matters, particularly for students “because they have a direct impact on the students and the curriculum.”

The race that most directly affected students this year was the School Committee: there were seven candidates running for three seats, which went to Dan Newman, Jeremy Kay, and Allan Motenko. The other major race was for a seat on the Select Board, which Xander Shapiro won.

A handful of students who voted said they felt somewhat informed in terms of local issues and candidates. A few said they voted more for their families than for themselves, since they won’t be attending school in the district after they graduate in two weeks. One student said he wasn’t informed at all and voted randomly.

“Some students are very active in the community and aware of the issues and some are not,” Mr. O’Reilly said. “Which, from my perspective, makes them not that different from older adults in the community and country.”

Pin Southard, a 12th grader, said she voted because she “wanted to be a voice.” She said the first time that she had voted, she didn’t feel informed, but she did more research on the issues this time. 

A “voice is not minuscule,” she added.

Her classmate, Allyson Braude, was excited to be voting for the first time. She said she felt informed enough to cast her ballot and added that she wanted to do it, in part, to honor all the individuals who had fought for women’s suffrage. 

Ms. Murphy and Ms. Malcolm said students often don’t know who local candidates are unless they do outside research. 

Pictured above: Select Board and School Committee candidates greet voters. Photographs by Charlie Walters.

“Students aren’t informed enough, but some of them are informed, and that’s OK,” Ms. Malcolm said. “I think it would be better if candidates could actually come in and address the senior class” at a school forum.

Braude agreed that she’d like to see more information available at school for students who don’t know much about town politics.

O’Reilly said that since the fall of 2004, SHS has held mock elections every two years. Social Studies teachers review the candidates and issues with their students and then students vote in the mock election. O’Reilly shares the results, such as these from 2022, with the school community the next day. “We also host an election night party where we watch the election returns on a big screen TV and eat lots of pizza,” he said.

One of the most important takeaways from participating in the town election simply is getting into the habit of voting, teachers said.

“I hope it teaches [students] to be informed voters,” Ms. Malcolm said. “Hopefully they learned that they have power and agency.”