SOLSC #2 - Colorado Caucus

To read my student's posts on the
Classroom SOL challenge click here

Introduction: Hello and welcome to my blog! This is the third year I have participated in the SOLSC and also the third year for my students as well! I teach students, ages 11-14, in a multi-age classroom at The Logan School for Creative Learning in Denver, CO. This year, I am hosting students from all three middle school classes and they are participating on a volunteer basis (with a few prizes thrown in for inspiration). I'm looking forward to being part of this amazing community again!

Colorado Caucus

As the last remnants of light sink away behind the mountains, I started my walk towards the local high school and caucus location. Not wanting to mess with traffic or parking, I had decided to walk the 3/4 of a mile and get a little extra exercise while participating in the democratic process.

As I drew closer or the school, lines of headlights and tail lights snaked around the streets. I don't know what I expected, but this turnout looked potentially impressive. After walking around to the entrance, the size of the line astonished me. Packed 4-6 people wide, the line stretched almost 1000 feet along the sidewalk and I was glad to have shown up "early." The sneaky part of me looked at faces as I went along, hoping to cut in with someone I knew. But the best offer I got was a lady selling Girl Scout Cookies and talking about it being a long night and how we'd all need provisions.

So I stumped to the end of line and talked with those around me during the 25 minutes it took to reach the doors I'd passed a few minutes earlier. We remarked on the weather, asked how the caucus process worked, shared which neighborhood we were from and talked about previous elections. It wasn't quite festive but I was joyous to see so many people excited to be out to have their voice heard. The energy was palpable as we shuffled forward, already participating before we even got inside.