Middle school library

8th Grade Students Create Middle School Library

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th graders

What became the multi-week Middle School Library project was set in motion when a group of 8th grade students got together one afternoon. First, they cleared off dusty shelves and sorted through what they considered to be very interesting items – a large starfish, lots of seashells, and a collection of glass beakers that jingled to the tune of foot traffic. Then, they got to work scanning and cataloging the collection of books, one at a time.

Library Books

A handy app, Libib, provided by 8th grade Humanities Teacher, Jennifer Lettieri, made the process of cataloging books a lot more streamlined, but scanning hundreds of books with a smart phone was no easy task. Some books collected over the years had barcodes so outdated that they had to enter the ISBN (International Standard Book Number) codes manually. 

 

“You realize how hard it is for librarians to organize books in alphabetical order!”
-Sterling

What’s more, the students found that some books fell under multiple genres, making the sorting process more complex than expected. Organizing and cataloging was an area of priority, and at the same time, the students were intentional about designing a library that was both inviting and welcoming. To help readers navigate the different sections of the library with ease, students created hand-drawn cards to break up sections for each genre. The aesthetically pleasing visuals not only serve the purpose of directing the reader to the resources they seek, but also attracts attention with clever, meme-worthy illustrations.

 

Once the books were organized into genres, they were able to identify some of the gaps in the library. The teachers then provided support by helping to compile a list of the books they felt they should have in an inclusive middle school library. A few days before the interview, a fresh batch of books procured from local treasure Marcus Books, the oldest Black-owned bookstore in the U.S., were still being cataloged.

Eigth grade library teamAfter devoting countless hours to giving life to the library, the students have a newfound reverence for spaces where books are loved: “You realize how hard it is for librarians to organize books in alphabetical order,” said Sterling, who has been involved in the library project since its earliest organizational stages. “[I’m] more attentive to how books are treated. I hope people will be conscious about how they treat and take care of books,” added Greta, another invaluable member of the library project team.

“I just wanted people to read. Having a wider selection of books, a nicer area to relax and read- I want those changes to inspire people to read again”
-Fern

After devoting countless hours to giving life to the library, the students have a newfound reverence for spaces where books are loved: “You realize how hard it is for librarians to organize books in alphabetical order,” said Sterling, who has been involved in the library project since its earliest organizational stages. “[I’m] more attentive to how books are treated. I hope people will be conscious about how they treat and take care of books,” added Greta, another invaluable member of the library project team.

Now in their final weeks at TBS, the class of 2022 is hopeful that the library will continue to grow. “The more books, the better!” added team member Embley, who also named comic books as the genre they would like to see expand. The team’s vision for the TBS Middle School library is that fellow Bobcats will care for it and continue to contribute to it in their own unique ways and one day, that we will have a central library for the entire school body.

 

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The TBS Mission

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by Mitch Bostian

At The Berkeley School, our mission – ignite curious minds, awaken generous hearts, engage a changing world – guides and connects everything from the everyday interactions among students, teachers and learning environments to our academic program design and our long-term strategic planning initiatives. These ten words direct us, inspire us, and provide us with the sense of shared purpose that allows us to take on the dynamic and challenging work of teaching and learning with perseverance, resilience, and joy.

How can ten words be this powerful? For us, the answer lies in two values – agency and  interdependence – that are foundational to the way we approach education at TBS. Each of those ten words has agency – what they mean matters – and none of them is as meaningful as all of them, taken together. Their straightforward simplicity belies a complex relationship, and complexity always deserves a closer look.

Our mission begins with ignite curious minds. In schools, teaching and learning activities often focusing on developing minds, and minds develop as the result of interactions among neurological structures and processes that are influenced by the physical, intellectual, social, and emotional stimuli resulting from our experiences of the world around us. We believe that all minds are innately curious about that world – that all minds have the capacity and motivation to notice, to investigate, and to learn. Our purpose, and joy, as educators is to design curricula, environments, and experiences that ignite that innate curiosity – from preschool through middle school. Some moments of ignition are immediate and obvious, as when early childhood students move through the classroom to label items as “living” or “nonliving” and begin to think more deeply about what it means for something to be alive. Some are elongated and more subtle, as when an eighth grader studies the case of Korematsu vs. United States, and develops an interest in civics, law, and activism that unfolds through high school, college, and beyond. 

Curiosity ignited!

While much of our work centers around igniting minds, we believe that such work can’t be done in isolation. Physical, social, and emotional elements are critical ingredients in the holistic teaching and learning that leads to deep understanding, and that all children deserve. Our mission’s next three words, “awaken generous hearts,” speak to this belief, and to the relationship between minds and hearts.

We see that when children’s curious minds are ignited, they come into the present moment of their learning: they are fully aware, attentive, and alive to the sensorial input (and associated reflections) that flow from their curiosity-driven experiences. As educators, we know that if we provide space, time, and language for students to attend to that sensorial input, their hearts will awaken: curiosity will lead them to experience feelings, and those feelings are the language of their awakened hearts. We believe that each of those hearts is generous, because children want to see others experiencing the same kind of safety, happiness, and respect that they themselves want to feel. Consequently, when students whose ignited, curious minds identify problems or challenges that awaken their generous hearts, the solutions they propose will reflect an empathic desire for “fairness of experience” and use impact on others as a core criteria for evaluating success. We believe that these students will grow up to focus on more than simply making change – they will think critically, and compassionately, about the changes they and others want to make.

So while we ignite curious minds and awaken generous hearts to build academic and social-emotional skills, we believe our work has a greater purpose: to prepare our students to engage a changing world. We end with the world because we believe that all education should be done with the world, and the future, in mind. We add the word “changing” because we believe that education for the world of today is never enough. Children change from moment to moment, as does the world, and an education that incorporates both truths of our time and visions for a better future ensures that the skills and values children develop will lead to the adult agency that allows them to engage change. When, in the context of Dia de los Muertos, our K-8 Spanish students learn about the conditions and practices that have led to the deaths of young immigrant children in detention camps in the region bordering Mexico, they develop their understanding of a complex problem while deepening their empathy and compassion for others. In the process, they see their potential as changemakers, and strengthen their belief that what they do, now and the future, will matter.

White cempazuchitl (marigold) made by TBS students, to be woven into the fence of the UAC campus in memory of the young immigrant children who have passed away at the detention camps in the border region.

Engage describes the way we hope our graduates will connect to the world and build a relationship that is not transactional but deepens over time – one characterized by curiosity, mutual respect, and a desire to understand, learn, and grow. Such a relationship will continue to ignite minds and awaken hearts for decades to come.

What happens when children whose curious minds are ignited and whose generous hearts are awakened encounter the world around them? What happens when your child greets you after a full day spent with friends and teachers, working, learning, and having fun? On those days, you can feel your child’s satisfaction, contentment, and openness right away. The conversations on the way home these days surprise you – you hear your child ask a question or make an observation about the world that reminds you how quickly they are learning and growing, and how their lived experience is both similar to, and different from yours. In these moments, you’re witnessing the way that igniting curious minds and awakening generous hearts equips children to engage their changing world. We are grateful for the children reminding us of the school’s mission to connect us as a school community, learning, and living, together.

 

Copy of Copy of ONE YEAR LATER

One Year Later

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by Mitch Bostian

One year ago this week, our school closed both campuses, in hopes that we could return after spring break.

One year ago, teachers and families had just completed their spring conferences – two days when almost every student, parenting adult, and teacher comes to school and spends time together talking about what matters. Preschool students were getting ready for the annual Kindness Festival. Dress rehearsals for the middle school play were underway. And eighth graders were gearing up for their capstone trip to Costa Rica – and graduation in June.

In short order, we began to see that many of these familiar and welcome events would need to be re-imagined, or postponed. And we came to understand that our hopes for a quick return to our campuses didn’t align with the evolving reality of a global pandemic. Our school’s mission – ignite curious minds, awaken generous hearts, engage a changing world – ensured that we didn’t rest in the magnitude of that understanding. Our faculty and staff’s collective focus on continuing to educate, care for, and love our children left us no time to marvel at the unprecedented situation or speculate about the longer term future. We knew we had big work to do – and we needed to do it together.

How does a 57-year-old school transition from a deeply place-based educational program – built around daily interactions among teachers and students in intentionally designed classroom and campus environments – to a home-based educational program? 

And how does that transition happen over a matter of weeks?

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TBS teachers gather for a crash course on teaching and learning at a distance.

How does a 57-year-old school transition from a deeply place-based educational program – built around daily interactions among teachers and students in intentionally designed classroom and campus environments – to a home-based educational program?.    

This formidable challenge truly ignited our minds. Teachers and administrators dove into the process of overhauling our entire program structure. They created our first-ever schoolwide Distance Learning Plan. And, somehow, they found time to engage in collaborative, time-intensive professional development – by themselves, with TBS colleagues, and with a local, national, and international community of educators dedicated to seeing and supporting students everywhere.

Even with ignited minds, we struggled to learn new ways of doing familiar things. And that struggle was supremely frustrating. As educators, we’d spent years and years honing the skills and practices that made us the successful teachers and administrators we were; but, in many ways, the circumstance called for a whole new set of skills. 

Learning to build and incorporate those skills took time — it took tolerating the ways in which we felt like our results were falling short of our goals, even though we were working as hard or harder than we ever had in our professional lives. As people quite familiar with encouraging students to push through obstacles, we were now processing what it feels like to hear that advice with those stumbling blocks directly in front of us. We realized this is how our students can feel when they are learning – and we did our best to remind ourselves and each other of this truth.

One of our favorite examples of this is “The Backwards Bike” – an experiment that reveals the difficulty of executing a familiar task with a tool that looks the same but responds in very unfamiliar ways. 

At the same time, we knew our families were grappling with the same challenges – creating their own “Home-Based-Everything Plans” and reconfiguring schedules and patterns that were dependent on children being seen and supported on a school campus every day. Our children experienced the unique feelings of uncertainty that arise when even the adults around them aren’t sure what to do. 

But what’s true of all children – and especially TBS students – is their ability to show resilience, their capacity to adapt, and their combination of comfort and skill when faced with change. They inspired us to exercise those same qualities.

TBS students demonstrating the flexibility needed to learn in a whole new way.

Three weeks into March, TBS was up and running in full “Distance Learning Mode”. Some things were familiar: being greeted by a teacher’s voice in the morning, seeing classmates’ faces, and continuing with the projects and assignments that had been in place before March 13. Some things were different: joining morning circle from the bedroom or the kitchen table, figuring out which link was the “door” to the next classroom. And some things were just strange. We were having a group experience but most often processing it by ourselves – and that is not how TBS students and teachers learn to operate.  

We persisted. We led with our curious minds: identifying challenges and opportunities, looking for possible solutions, gathering as much information as we could, and making difficult decisions to guide the way forward. Those decisions resulted in rapid implementations and iterations that moved at a pace unfamiliar to all of us: students, educators, and parenting adults. We expanded our use of Google Classroom. We began to integrate SeeSaw, NearPod, and other platforms designed to help teachers and students work together more effectively. And we worked to adjust to the challenges and opportunities of Zoom.

So we made progress. But it didn’t always feel like that. Each member of our community wrestled with the fear and uncertainty that arose from the onset of a global pandemic with no end in sight. Each of us experienced the feelings of worry, frustration, anger, and grief that come with ambiguous loss. Those were – and are – feelings that even ignited, curious minds couldn’t erase. 

Along the way, we kept talking directly with each other about what was easy and what was hard, what was working and what wasn’t, and how much we felt we didn’t know. Parenting adults became intimately familiar with the daily challenges – and joys – that teachers experience when working with students. Teachers learned more about the ways that students learned differently online, surrounded by family, without the multiple social interactions that had previously characterized their days at school.

Those conversations were heartfelt, complex, and often difficult. We did our best to be real with each other while also understanding that none of us had the ability to magically wipe away the frustrations we felt or miraculously produce clarity about what, exactly, we were facing.

‘Keep going’ meant doing what the last phrase of our mission calls us to do – engage a changing world.    

Meanwhile, the pandemic continued. We learned more about the nature and impact of COVID and watched helplessly as more and more people became sick, died, and suffered from the economic and social impact of shutdowns. And just when we thought we had reached our emotional capacity, video of the murder of George Floyd catapulted our drive and resolve to fight the other lingering plagues of our world — in this case, the plague of racial injustice. Many of us took actions in support of the Black Lives Matter movement that made us feel simultaneously more uncertain, more hopeful, and more determined.

TBS students and faculty show support of Black Lives Matter during the “Bury Racism” march in Berkeley.

As TBS educators, our ability to share what was and wasn’t working with ourselves, our students, and our families led to adjustments that made our distance learning plan more effective with each revision. But what mattered more was the way these conversations awakened our compassion and sharpened our awareness. Those experiences gave us the strength to see and solve new problems – and to keep going.

“Keep going” meant doing what the last phrase of our mission calls us to do – engage a changing world. It’s a line we often use when we refer to our graduates and how we prepare them for high school, college, and the world to come. In May, our eighth graders faced the reality that the milestones and experiences they had looked forward to throughout their entire career at TBS – the middle school play, spring dances, the volleyball season, their trip to Costa Rica – would not happen. On top of that, the formal graduation ceremony they had watched for years as younger spectators would not be the ceremony we’d be able to give them.

We faced this reality with them. That awakened our hearts, and gave us the motivation to design a graduation ceremony that would be meaningful, memorable, and give people as much “seen and supported” feeling as we possible. With minds ignited, we set out to engage the changing world once more. And we did it – together.

Our mission cycle – ignite curious minds, awaken generous hearts, engage a changing world – has played out countless times over the last calendar year..    

The Berkeley School’s first-ever “virtual” graduation ceremony.

The 2020-21 school year came to a close – but our school’s journey was just beginning. Over the course of the summer, TBS teachers and administrators worked constantly to understand what the upcoming school year might hold, building on lessons from the spring and doing everything possible to plan for an unprecedented and hard-to-predict beginning for the 2020-21 school year..

During those summer months, we were reminded that the practical realities of interdependence make it much more challenging to engage change. Frequent updates to federal, state, or local guidance would upend, redirect, or pause work that we had been planning for weeks. Even though that turned out to be good practice for the school year, it’s impossible to capture how all-consuming, and exhausting, those iterations were. It was a “summer” in name only. 

But we made progress. When our Early Childhood Campus reopened on July 12, 2020, the sights and sounds of children and teachers in classrooms and outdoor spaces again reminded us about how much school – and being together – matter.

Sima taking temp

Our mission cycle – ignite curious minds, awaken generous hearts, engage a changing world – has played out countless times over the last calendar year. Teachers on both campuses are now equally skilled at teaching children in person, online, or both simultaneously – and can “code switch” between modes with astonishing speed. Students on both campuses have adapted to protocols and routines that allow them to be together safely while preserving room for joy and excitement. And families have found ways to build and maintain community with each other even when physical proximity is limited or impossible.

While we try to celebrate these mission-connected successes regularly, we have also been careful to keep those who have contracted the virus and who have lost friends and family to the virus on our minds and in our hearts. In honor of MLK Day this year, and using Dr. King’s commitment to service as a model, our community wrote letters of gratitude to the people who have truly gone above and beyond during the pandemic: our healthcare workers.

Students wrote letters of gratitude to send to local healthcare facilities.

We also made a point to remain the civic engagement school. Already agile at incorporating current events into curriculum, TBS teachers designed lessons that focused on what was going on in the world and the ways that TBS students could take action to make things better –  like this project on the disproportionate impact of COVID-19 on our Latinx community, and a student-created website all about the 2020 election. Just after the website was published, this 8th grade explainer article about the Electoral College was listed second in a Google search on the topic.

365 days later, I’m writing this reflection from a place of gratitude and hope, looking back on a pandemic year that – like a rollercoaster ride – has felt both incredibly long and shockingly short. We put together a video retrospective to help ourselves see our journey more clearly – and while it helps, I am certain we’ll be shaping and telling the story of “pandemic school” for years to come.

In a few short weeks, our teachers will be fully vaccinated. On-campus students will leave school on Friday, April 2 for break and return on Monday, April 12 to routines and protocols that are now as familiar, and reassuring, as those we left behind in 2020. And we are planning for a graduation ceremony for the Class of 2021 that will include all of the community support and love our students need and deserve. 

We aren’t “there” yet – but we know we have an opportunity. See and work towards a “there” that builds on what we’ve learned this year. Our hearts are awakened. Our minds are ignited. And we are more than ready to continue engaging this changing world – together.

Capitol Insurrection

Responding In Partnership To “Days After” At TBS

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by Mitch Bostian, Head of School

At TBS, we work hard to infuse our students’ academic learning and school experiences with civic engagement truths. Those truths start with “we are interdependent” and “what we do matters” and extend to include many others. TBS students learn that impact matters every bit as much as intention, that words and actions have consequences, and that “freedom of speech” should not mean “freedom from consequences of speech,” no matter how unaccustomed to those consequences a person, or group, might be.

Our teachers help children learn these lessons every day – not just on “days after” – and we encourage and support them in doing so. We know that students whose academic and life skills were shaped by these truths will grow up to create better civic outcomes for people everywhere, and that a collective brighter future depends on their ability to do so.

Yesterday’s civic events transcend politics in the same way that homelessness and climate change do. And our community’s willingness to meet children where they are in their responses brings the school’s mission to life. When we can be present to children’s questions and hear both what they are asking and why, we can ignite their curious minds, awaken their generous hearts, and help them engage our changing world.

Our teachers spent time yesterday and today creating spaces and opportunities for students to process their thoughts and feelings in developmentally appropriate ways. Their ability to do this work skillfully arises from hours and hours of practice and experience, collaboration, dedication, and a deep commitment to helping children feel seen and supported. From conversations this morning, I know that many stayed up late last night to make sure they were prepared for whatever might arise today. They put children first every day – not just on “days after” – and we are all grateful.

Because children see and hear so much, we expect and anticipate that your child may come home with questions about yesterday’s events, particularly since so many children have become aware of public demonstrations, protests, and actions over the past four years and will notice significant differences in the ways that law enforcement, newscasters, and government officials responded to yesterday’s actions and those from earlier in 2020.

Some parenting adults will feel completely equipped to answer these questions, since they are part of ongoing family conversations necessitated by the systems and structures that make their daily lives less safe. Others won’t know where to begin and will worry about saying the wrong thing. And all of us will be grappling with our own responses as well.

What all of us want is to help children feel safe. And wherever you are on the confidence spectrum, please know that what you do or say is less important than the fact that you take time to do it. Children feel safer when adults listen carefully to them, ask questions, and build a mutual understanding of shared experiences – and you are the adults who matter most in your children’s lives.

I know you’ll be hearing from teachers about the school days your children are having this week – whether at home or on campus – and that they’ll be sharing ideas and resources with you. Please share yours with us – and with each other. We are interdependent. What we do matters. And at times like these, the fact that we do it together matters even more.

Take care,

Mitch signature

Census #

The Census and Democracy

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By Adrian W., Jack S. and Malcolm A.

The census is the U.S. government’s way of determining the population of the country. It is carried out by the U.S. Census Bureau, which is the government agency that conducts the Census. It is required by law in the Constitution to take the census because the government needs an accurate count to determine the amount of people living in the country. You can be fined for intentionally putting false information into the census form, leaving parts of it unfinished, or failing to do it at all. 

Is the U.S.A. a democracy? 

Democracy is a political system where all eligible citizens have a direct vote in passing laws and electing government officials. The U.S. is not a democracy because we vote for electors who then vote for the president. The amount of electors for each state can change based on how many people live in that state. There are only 3 electors in Wyoming, but there are 55 electors in California. Your individual vote translates differently if you live in Wyoming compared to California. This is because there’s a smaller proportion of voters to electors in a less populated state like Wyoming, then in a more populated state like California. Because votes translate differently in different states and individuals do not cast direct votes for the president, the U.S is not a democracy.

How does the census relate to democracy? 

The U.S. Census has played a major role in the country’s democracy since 1790. We need to know how many people are voting in total, and how many electors and representatives each state gets. That’s where the census comes in. The census counts how many people live in the U.S, and it shows how important it is because the country spends over a trillion dollars on the census. 

Is the census a voter security issue?

The 2020 Census was stopped early on October 15th instead of December 31st by President Donald Trump because of the coronavirus. The outcome of this is that the amount of people who are counted in each state may not be accurate. As a result, the number of electors in the next presidential election in 2024 also may not be accurate. In addition, some people in the U.S. might not be counted at all, which means that their vote might not be reflected in the Electoral College, and they might not be represented in the House of Representatives. Finally, some minority groups in the U.S. might be intentionally miscounted because they have a history of voting Democratic, and the current president is a Republican. The early ending of the 2020 census could make our country even less democratic.

Census Infographic

The census is run by the Census Bureau, whose director is appointed by the president. We can make sure that everyone gets counted by completing the Census as soon as possible. One thing we can do is complete our U.S. Census forms so that there is an accurate count of how many people live in the U.S. You can do this by counting how many people live in your house and then writing that down also. We encourage people of all races to vote and stop the discrimination. We can work for equality and to improve the voting system. Minority groups are fighting against the census early, because a lot of people in minority groups may not have gotten to complete the census yet. For more information about how to create a fair count and what you can do, click these links: www.2020census.gov/ https://www.faircount.org/census-2020/#important

Voting Rights Signs

Voter ID Laws: A Way to Suppress the Vote

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by Mackenzie P.

What are voter ID laws? 

Voter ID laws require people who are old enough to vote to bring their ID or a photo ID to the polls when they vote. These laws are only in effect in some states. The states run the elections, not the federal government. The first voter ID law was passed in 1950 when South Carolina required voters to bring some sort of identification with their name printed.  

Where are voters required to have ID? 

Thirty- six states require identification at the polls. Seven of those states have strict photo ID requirements. Most of these states are located in the south and the midwest.  

This is a map of the United States with the voter ID laws that are in effect. To learn more about each state’s voter ID law visit this website.

Are voter ID laws discriminatory? 

Voter ID laws are definitely discriminatory! IDs can be expensive, but even when they are free, the documents you need to get them are hard to obtain. Traveling to get these documents and/or an ID can be a burden to people in poor communities, the elderly, and people with disabilities. 

It might be hard for the people in low-income communities to afford an ID, such as paying for the documents to get the ID. It also might be hard for people who live in rural areas to travel to their state’s DMV to get a driver’s license or state-issued ID. For people with disabilities, it can be hard to receive a driver’s license because their disability might prevent them from driving, which makes it harder for them to travel.

Do the voter ID laws go against the Voting Rights Act?    

This is a photograph of President Lyndon B. Johnson signing the Voting Rights Act in 1965

Before 1965, poll workers were able to keep African Americans from registering to vote with poll taxes, literacy tests, intimidation, and downright racism. That was, however, until the Voting Rights Act of 1965 was passed. The Voting Rights Act was a bill sent by Congress that President Lyndon B. Johnson signed into law to remove literacy tests and stop discriminatory practices in places like the south where voter suppression was common. Under the Voting Rights Act, any discrimination against people who tried to register to vote was illegal.

The progress made by the Voting Rights Act was challenged in 2013 when the U.S. Supreme Court decided in Shelby County v. Holder that states no longer needed to have their voting rules approved by the federal government. According to the director of the Leadership Conference on Civil and Human Rights, Shelby allowed states to “open the floodgates to voter suppression.” This 2013 Supreme Court decision allowed for the voter ID laws to stand today. 

How can we stop voter ID laws? 

There are many organizations that are working towards ending voter ID laws and restoring the Voting Rights Act. One of these organizations is Fairfight.com, where you can sign up and become a part of the team to learn more about how we can restore the Voting Rights Act and end discriminatory practices that keep people from voting.

End Gerrymandering Now

Gerrymandering FAQs

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By Evan B. and Lucas C.

What is gerrymandering?

Gerrymandering is a strategy a political party uses to get an advantage over the other party. Both parties don’t usually use gerrymandering at the same time.

Political parties do this by drawing the boundaries of the Congressional districts in a state so that they have a majority of voters from their party in each district. One political party will gerrymander the Congressional districts to elect more representatives to the House of Representatives than the other party. Gerrymandering makes it so they can win most of the districts even if the other political party has more people voting for the opposing candidate.

Where did the term “gerrymandering” come from?

(Photo: Elbridge Gerry)

The term “gerrymandering” was created in 1812 by a man named Elbridge Gerry.  Elbridge Gerry was born on July 17, 1744 and died on November 23, 1814. He was an American politician and eventually became the vice president of the fifth president, James Madison. Gerry signed both the Declaration of Independence and the Articles of Confederation. He also helped write our Constitution, but he didn’t sign it.

See the first “gerrymander” map here.

 

Gerrymandering Examples

Graphic designed by Evan B.

Chart A shows a state with 50 voters and 1 Congressional district. With 30 Republican voters and 20 Democratic voters, a Republican candidate would be elected to represent that Congressional district in the House of Representatives. There is no gerrymandering in Chart A.

Chart B shows the same state with 5 gerrymandered Congressional districts favoring the Democrats. If the Democrats control the state’s government and they know that the Republicans outnumber them, they can draw creative lines to elect more Democratic representatives to the House of Representatives. Look how complicated and odd looking the lines are drawn. The Democrats elect 3 people to the House of Representatives with only 40% voting Democratic. This method is called “neither compact nor fair.”  What a perfect name! 

For example, in 2012, Democrats won 51% of the popular House vote in Pennsylvania, but they only won 5 out of 18 House seats, which is less than 30%. Pennsylvania Republicans redrew the state’s Congressional districts using the “neither compact nor fair” method.

Chart C shows the same state with 5 gerrymandered districts favoring the Republicans. If the Republicans control the state’s government, they decide how the lines are drawn. They draw them horizontally, so that in each district there are more Republican voters and fewer Democratic voters. The Republicans elect their candidates to the House of Representatives in all 5 districts. This method is called “compact but unfair.” 

For example, in 2012, Democrats received 66% of the popular House vote. But they won 21 out of 27 House seats, which is close to 80%, using this “compact but unfair” method.

Is gerrymandering unfair?

Gerrymandering is unfair because it gives one political party an advantage by giving the other party less of a chance to elect their representatives. Election results should be based on how voters feel about the party’s vision/what they believe in, also known as the party platform, not on how Congressional districts are broken up. 

When you try to separate districts, sometimes race and income become big factors. Sometimes one particular race favors one political party over another. When you separate these districts, you also disconnect races. People may think this can give more power to minority voters by increasing their chances of electing officials of the same race. 

Here’s something we should all ask ourselves: Is it more important to elect officials of your own race, or is it more important to belong to a powerful political party? If you also believe that elections should be won based on the vision of the political party and not by manipulating, please sign this petition to end gerrymandering NOW!!

Misinformation # USE

Misinformation in the 2020 Election

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by Zachary B.

Why Is Misinformation about the Election a Problem?

Misinformation and disinformation surrounding the 2020 election is a very serious problem. False information influences how people vote and even their ability to vote. It comes in many inconspicuous forms such as social media ads, or even in tweets from government officials. If someone were to read an article with incorrect information about a proposition on the ballot in their state and then go vote on it, they could accidentally be voting against what they care about. Another example of how false information can affect the election is if someone sees false information online about how to vote by mail, their valuable vote may not be counted. 

“False information influences how people vote and even their ability to vote.”

Where Is Misinformation Coming From?

Misinformation that can impact elections comes from a variety of sources, from articles to tweets to Facebook profiles. It comes from both inside and outside of the United States. A significant source of misinformation is the Russian “Internet Research Agency,” which uses fake social media accounts posing as organizations to distribute incorrect information and incite conflict between different political groups. They then amplify this using Twitter bots. They also create fake news accounts that report on their fake organizations. 

“…fake social media accounts… distribute incorrect information and incite conflict…”

Another source of misinformation is President Donald Trump’s messages from his Twitter account. He routinely dishes out disinformation, such as when he tweeted out on October 6, 2020, “Flu season is coming up! Many people every year, sometimes over 100,000, and despite the Vaccine, die from the Flu. Are we going to close down our Country? No, we have learned to live with it, just like we are learning to live with Covid, in most populations far less lethal!!!” The post was soon flagged and was blocked from being shared, as only 22,000 people died of the flu in the United States during the 2019-20 flu season, yet there have been, as of October 19, 2020, at 7:19 PM PDT, 225,000 deaths caused by COVID-19(according to worldometers.com). Trump’s post was also removed from Facebook within a few hours.

Disinformation About the 2020 Election

An example of disinformation relating to this year’s election is mail-in voting. As we are in a pandemic, many people have been voting by mail instead of going to polling places. Along with this have come many concerns about voting by mail and because people are concerned, they are more likely to believe misinformation about mail-in voting. Because they already do not trust the vote by mail system, they look for news that confirms their bias and ignore news that says otherwise. For example, again on twitter, in April, Donald Trump stated that “Mail in ballots substantially increases [sic] the risk of crime and VOTER FRAUD!” This is entirely untrue as, according to CNET’s article,published in October 2020,  titled How to Commit Mail-in Voting Fraud (It’s nearly impossible), committing mail-in voter fraud is “nearly impossible.” 

A large number of Americans have voted by mail for over 150 years (see CNET article, above). Senior FBI officials claimed that they had found no evidence of coordinated voter fraud with mail-in ballots. They also said that, “It would be extraordinarily difficult to change a federal election outcome through this type of fraud alone, given the range of processes that would need to be affected or compromised by an adversary at the local level.” This is just one example of blatantly false information about the 2020 election. 

What Can You Do To Stay Informed?

There are a few main things you can do to stay informed and make sure you are getting accurate information about the election. One thing that you can do is to learn how to spot misinformation and not spread it to others. First, check who the information is from. As an example, if I see an article and I want to know if it’s true, I’d google the news organization it’s from, as well as the author. I’d see if the news organization is a reputable source and if the author is an actual human being. Also, try checking fact-checking websites such as snopes.com or politifact.com. The Daily Dot has compiled a list of many fake news sites(about 1,000) to avoid, as well as a long list of many signs of a misinformative website. You can find that document here. If you find false information, try correcting the poster or sharing that that information is not true. This process of researching about the topic, the author, and the news organization is called lateral reading. Another thing we can do to stop misinformation and stay informed is to look at reputable sources to begin with. One thing you can look for to determine if a news source is reputable is if it has had an online presence for over a few months and if it cites other reliable sources. Find some websites that provide accurate, unbiased information about the election and use those as a primary source of information. According to Business Insider magazine, some examples of unbiased and reputable news websites are: PBS, Associated Press, NPR, and The Wall Street Journal, to name a few.

Can You Spot the Fake News?

Only one of these articles is true. Take the virtual quiz below and let us know which you think is true.

 

 

 

 

 

 

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The Flaws of the Electoral College System

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By Andrew P., Charlie G., and Michael S.

The Electoral College is a system our country has always used to elect our president, but what is it, and is it still useful for our country? When the Constitution was drafted in 1787, the framers needed a system to elect the president. One group of delegates wanted the president to be elected through a popular vote (the votes cast by citizens), while other delegates wanted Congress to decide the election. They then made a compromise, and the Electoral College was formed. 

The Electoral College is a group of people chosen by state legislatures to vote for the president and vice president. The number of electors in each state is equal to the number of members each state has in Congress. There are currently 538 electors, (535 for the number of representatives in Congress, plus 3 electors who represent Washington, D.C.). 270 electoral votes are required to win the presidential election, regardless of who wins the popular vote.

Despite individual Americans casting our ballots for who we want to be president, the only votes that count are those of the Electoral College. 

Electoral Votes can override the popular vote, basically rendering citizens’ votes useless. An example of a candidate losing the popular vote while winning the presidency was the 2016 election. Hillary Clinton won the popular vote with 65,845,063 votes, which was 2,868,691 votes more than the 62,980,160 of popular votes cast for Trump. However, she lost the election due to having 227 electoral votes to Trump’s 304.

Voting Booth Image

“So, according to what the framers wanted, the Electoral College casts votes based on who we are voting for. That means it’s okay that the president isn’t elected through the popular vote, but that my vote still has some impact, right?”

Well, not necessarily. One flaw of the Electoral College is something called “faithless electors.” Faithless electors are electors who will vote for who they want to be president regardless of the popular vote. There are around 30 states that require their electors to vote for the candidate who wins the popular vote, but there are still about 20 states that don’t have any laws restricting electors. If you were voting in a state with a faithless elector, your vote could essentially not count. 

Click here for more information on faithless electors.

Another factor that could make your vote even less impactful is living in a more populated state. For example, in Wyoming, there are 578,000 people and three electoral votes, which is equivalent to one electoral vote for every 190,000 voters. However, in California, there are about 40 million people and fifty-five electoral votes, which is equivalent to one for every 700,000 voters. 

This means that the votes of people in Wyoming are about 3.5 times as impactful as those in California. 

There is yet another, if not the biggest flaw: In 48 of the 50 states, electoral votes are controlled through something called the “winner-take-all” system. In winner-take-all states, only one candidate gets all of all of the electoral votes for that state. For example, in California, if candidate X gets 45 electoral votes, and candidate Y gets 10 electoral votes, all 55 votes go to candidate X–even though people represented by the 10 electors voted for candidate Y. 

As a result of the winner-take-all system, a presidential candidate could hypothetically win an election by winning only 11 states.    

Electoral College Infographic copy

With all of these flaws in the Electoral College system, what can be done about it?

One obvious solution would be to completely get rid of the Electoral College. Abolishing the Electoral College would require amending the Constitution, which is a very long and complicated process. First, when an idea has enough popular support, a member of Congress brings it to the floor of either the House or the Senate. The chamber of Congress the idea was introduced in assigns a committee to debate and refine the idea. If the idea makes it out of the committee, the full chamber will debate. For the amendment to proceed, two-thirds of the chamber it was introduced in has to vote for it. The process will be repeated in the other chamber. If two-thirds of congress votes for the amendment, the amendment gets sent to every state. Once 3/4 of the states ratify it, the amendment finally passes. The Constitution has only been amended 27 times since it went into effect in 1789.

An easier solution to the Electoral College problem would be to just remove the winner-take-all system. This would require individual state legislatures to change their laws. Getting rid of the winner-take-all system means that candidates would receive any electoral votes cast for them cast for them, regardless of whether or not they won the majority of electoral votes of electoral votes from that state. A solution like this  wouldn’t have to go through the Constitutional amendment process; the states would have it to do themselves. This would be faster, and would be a step towards making everyone’s votes count.

You can do your part in repairing a flawed system by sending messages that encourage electoral reform to your representative in Congress, and by bringing attention to this issue by telling friends and family. 

We support the Brennan Center for Justice who is advocating for the Electoral College to be reformed, and we recommend you visit their website for more information on the issue of the Electoral College system.

Foreign Interference

Foreign Interference in the 2020 Election

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By Beatrice B.

Foreign interference is a complicated subject to fully understand. It includes misinformation, disinformation and targeted ads. Foreign countries are messing with the voting system in the United States.

What are Disinformation and Misinformation?

First, what is the difference between misinformation and disinformation? Misinformation is rumors, false news, and lies, while disinformation is a category of misinformation. Disinformation includes conspiracy theories and purposely deceiving and lying to someone.

How do misinformation and disinformation spread so quickly? 

Misinformation and disinformation are spread through apps such as Facebook and Twitter. One way misinformation spreads is how anybody can buy bots to share and repost tweets and Facebook posts. The bots are created by hacker programmers and then are sold to anybody who wants them. The bots are more efficient because they can share and repost much faster than a human. Lots of people use these social media platforms, so once you manage to get people’s attention about what you’re sharing, the bots step away. Why the bots step away is because they are meant to spread disinformation, and make a candidate look more popular on their social media platforms. Once people start to get interested in the candidate, or people start spreading the misinformation, the bots are no longer needed. This is how Russia has managed to interfere with the presidential elections. An example of this is how in the 2016 election, Russia used bots to create targeted advertisements on Facebook to spread false information about the upcoming election.

Why is Russia so interested in our elections? 

Russia and the United States are foes. They disagree on multiple levels about what is currently happening in Ukraine, Syria, ISIS, and in other parts of the world. Some people in Russia feel like the United States is using its system of government and politics to target them, especially the Russian government. Some politicians and others in Russia feel like the politicians of the USA are trying to minimize the influence of the Russian government around the world.

Arm Wrestle

Why should voters be concerned about foreign interference in the 2020 election?

Voters in the United States and all other people should be concerned about foreign interference in the election because if other countries start interfering with the U.S. election, then it could mess up the votes and have a president get elected who was not the most-liked candidate. 

What are people doing to help prevent foreign interference?

To help prevent foreign interference in our elections, people are pressuring their local elected officials to make sure their ballots are secure and that no one can hack the voting machines. Organizations like the Center for Internet Security are helping the United States protect its voting technology from foreign interference. The Brennan Center for Justice has some recommendations for things that local and state governments, as well as the federal government, can do to protect our elections and our democracy from foreign interference.

Sources:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Russian_interference_in_the_2016_United_States_elections
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Russian_interference_in_the_2020_United_States_elections
https://www.cisecurity.org/elections-resources/election-security-self-assessments/
https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2017-10-31/how-russia-meddling-became-social-media-s-problem-quicktake-q-a
https://vimeo.com/178424782
https://www.pbs.org/newshour/show/whats-being-done-to-stop-russias-election-interference