High schoolers host annual Meet the Candidates Night
by Brian Kern
DANVILLE — Roughly 100 community members assembled here in the high school’s auxiliary gymnasium earlier this week to put faces with the names that they will see on the May 6 primary ballot.
The Meet the Candidates Night event was organized by Danville Community High School seniors as part of their American Government course.
Students were responsible for inviting candidates from all parties and all relevant offices to attend the event.
“We’ve learned that politics is a lot of hard work and that putting together something as good as this takes a lot of time outside of school,” senior Will Crosslin said. He added that virtually every one of his classmates has registered to vote in the primary this time around.
DCHS government teacher Mike Neilson said that the evening was largely a success, though he admits that he was perplexed by the absence of several local candidates.
“I was pleased with the performance of my students and the candidates in attendance, but we did have eight candidates who were no shows and six of the eight had contacted us and committed to be there and the kids picked up on that,” Neilson said. “I’ve got 180 brand new voters here and they are going to be Republicans, Democrats, and Libertarians one day, probably based on what their parents were.”
Candidates in attendance praised the event and said that it is an important step in student and community education when it comes to local government.
“I think it’s really awesome that they do it and I think it’s important for the community to learn about who they are voting for,” State Sen. Connie Lawson said. “The larger message here is that government students are getting to learn about what it takes to get involved.”
Fellow candidate John Gootee echoed a similar sentiment.
“It was just an outstanding presentation and it renews your faith in young people that they are getting involved in a professional and educated manner,” he said. “I was proud of the entire group and I wish I could go around and shake the hand of every student. I left there with a big grin on my face.”
Note: For comprehensive coverage of all candidates in the 2008 May Primary, click on the ‘Special Sections’ tab on the Hendricks County Flyer website at www.flyergroup.com.
brian.kern@flyergroup.com
