Did I mention before that I'm a teacher? Split grade 7/8. You've got to keep yourself in fighting trim to survive! Anyway, let me share a story with you. I registered my class in "Kids Voting", a program designed to help them learn about the democatic process of elections as they are carried out here in Ontario. It all culminated with our class being assigned a polling station number and being sent a real ballot box and ballots marked with the names of the candidates for the riding the school is in. We read articles in the newspapers, researched and discussed issues and wrote letters to the local candidates. On voting day, those kids took it all so seriously, it was great to watch! We elected a Deputy Returns Officer, and two poll clerks. We set up a desk behind a screen in the store room as the place to cast the votes, and then we started. Some of the kids stood there at the desk, taking their time and thinking so carefully before marking their ballot. One of the girls stood for the longets time, deliberating, before suddenly turning to me and saying "Please remind me ... what's the difference between the Liberals and the NDP?" When all the votes had been cast and counted, the results were announced, and the winning candidate was given a spontaneous round of applause. The next day, several of the students told me they had asked to go with their parents to see the "real thing" and some of them even talked their parents into going when they had said they weren't going to bother. I felt good about the whole thing! Now, I just have to cross my fingers and hope that they'll remember all this when they reach voting age. I hope that they exercise their democratic right, instead of falling into the apathy that resulted in only 52% of Ontario's voters actually making it to the polls this October.