The Upper School was treated to two Election Day assemblies this year. The first, on October 17th, was hosted by Mr. Bartlett’s Advanced US Government class, and it gave background on the presidential election. The class explained the electoral college system, the importance of voting, young people’s role in politics, and the significance of swing states. A poll conducted by his class, shared at the assembly, found the majority of upperclassmen’s top concern was the economy, whereas the underclassmen focused more on abortion rights.
The second assembly, on Election Day itself, was a Four Corners debate. Club leaders posed questions to 30 student volunteers. These questions were relevant to this year’s election, such as the importance of immigration laws, the United States’ role in the conflict between Russia and Ukraine, and gun control. The participating students then chose a corner that best represented their view on each topic, and some selected to share their opinions further on stage.
The Potomac community was impressed with the volunteers’ ability to engage effectively in civil discourse while intelligently sharing their opinions to educate their peers. After the assembly, Anika Agrawal, a freshman, shared that she “felt more educated about both the election process and what issues are most important to the Potomac community and the nation in general.” Cliff Kanner-Bitetti, a senior who participated in the Four Corners debate, said he believed the assembly was truly “a great example of civil discourse” and that people from various perspectives ended the debate more robustly educated on politics and the election. Mr. Bartlett, who arranged the original assembly, said that he was proud of and impressed by the students for both their original presentation about the election and the way they civilly shared their knowledge in the debate portion of the assembly.
However, some students felt that the questions asked did not accurately reflect the most pressing issues facing our country today and that they were chosen to lessen the risk of arguments among students. Going forward, students hope that the school can lean into discomfort, trusting students to engage and grapple with ideas based on this past display of civil discourse and ultimately allow the most pressing issues in today’s society to be debated.
