March 29, 2024
Archive

Mock election spurs Presque Isle girls to consider politics

PRESQUE ISLE – When you ask local Girl Scouts about the idea of a woman being president of the United States, a few of them will tell you that they’re thinking of taking the job.

In fact, three teenage girls ran for president over the weekend to teach younger Girl Scouts about the election process, politics and women in leadership roles. The Ms. President event, sponsored by the local Abnaki Girl Scout Council, was held on Saturday at Northern Maine Community College in Presque Isle.

About 50 Aroostook County junior and cadet Girl Scouts attended the daylong event, which brought them face-to-face with women in local leadership roles and gave them a chance to participate in a mock political campaign and election.

“We want girls to take away a sense of empowerment from this,” Rebecca Holcombe, one of the four committee members who organized the event, said on Saturday. “We all believe in girls and the need for them to get the message that they can do.”

Organizers did that by putting girls in charge of their own experience. Each scout registered herself to vote, heard speeches from the candidates of three different political parties – Red, White and Blue – and voted for whomever she thought was the best candidate.

Participating in the event will earn each of the girls her Ms. President patch, developed jointly by Girl Scouts USA and The White House Project, an organization dedicated to changing the way people think about women in leadership roles.

Organizers decided on the large-group format for a more lively, energetic event and to expose as many girls as possible to local woman leaders. The committee brought in a local school principal, women in the media, and women who have run for or work in political offices to talk to event participants.

The big focus of the day for most girls, however, was choosing the “right” woman for the job. Amanda Dionne of Caribou said on Saturday morning that she was sure she was going to vote for the White party, until she talked to the Red party.

“Now I’m undecided,” she said.

But she wasn’t frustrated by the situation; she was hopeful that focusing on politics now would help her in a few years.

“I think that when I’m 18, I won’t take so long to pick sides because I’ll know where I stand on all the important issues,” she said.

Anna Harris, the Blue party presidential candidate, said she also believed the experience would help her later in life, but in a different way. Harris said her career goals center on speaking up for women’s rights in other countries.

“I think this will help me to have a stronger voice,” she said.


Have feedback? Want to know more? Send us ideas for follow-up stories.

comments for this post are closed

You may also like