Kudos to Our Candidates

Great job yesterday by Barack Obama (Kayla McGonagle) and John McCain (Catherine Abbott) in a very true-to-life debate. Both candidates were well prepared, carried themselves well, and genuinely presented the views and positions of senators Obama and McCain. We thought about conducting the debate without having the questions known beforehand, but felt the candidates would really be put in a difficult role, so the questions were provided at sort of the last minute, and they did a wonderful job of researching and preparing their answers in a short amount of time.

Hats off also to our audience. Not only did we have a great turn out, but those that were able to attend were attentive, polite, and totally in tune to what was being delivered by the candidates. Our candidates were put at ease in a challenging situation by having an audience that was so supportive and positive. An audience that was inattentive or distracting would have hindered the candidates' abilities to concentrate and especially in trying to respond to what their opponent may have said. So once again, thanks every one for making the debate a success. We can never know if anything that was stated by a candidate changed any one's mind, but the opportunity was there to listen and learn, and you all took advantage of that clearly. BRAVO!

Now on to the election. Tuesday will be an interesting day, here at FBA and out there in the real world. We will try to mimic the voting process here by setting up our polls in the multi-purpose room and having them open throughout the day for students to vote when they choose. The SS classes will be brought to vote by their teachers but everyone else will be on their own. We will vote for president and on the 3 binding referendum questions. If the debate is any indication, the election day activity will be smooth and one of sincere participation. We will try to have our results by the close of school, but no promises.

*N.B. - think about what a great "ticket" Abbott - McGonagle would make!!