USA ELECTION 2008

Phew!!!

Well I am exhausted because I stayed up all night to watch the election results being called.
Barack Obama has won, by a huge margin.

I suggest that you click on the link to the BBC News website for more news and detailed analysis of what everyone is quoting to be an historic event. The electoral college system is explained and also details are given for the voting for the Senate and House of Representatives.

Obama will be inaugurated as President of the United States of America on January 20th 2009.

Thank you to all of Year 9 who prepared amazing posters. The display caused quite a buzz around campus. Students and Teachers all were talking about the implications and issues surrounding the election. Teachers from Year 2 up to Year 13 came up to me to tell me of the discussions they have had in classes with their students. Many people attempted to vote in our own mini-election but had problems, thank you for trying though and my apologies for the early closing of the voting. Of those that managed we had 28 votes in total: 4 for McCain and 24 for Obama.

The 2 winning posters are still displayed and 5 house points go to each group in charge of the posters.

I strongly recommend you watch the clips, available from BBC News, of Obama's winning speech and also McCain's concession speech. Both are examples of how to be magnanimous in victory and defeat. I suspect Obama´s speech will be remembered for a long time. It is 17 minutes long but do be patient and listen passed the thank you section as it has a resounding finish.

The important lesson to learn from this event in school is that every vote counts, every person counts and everyone should get involved with the issues both locally, nationally and globally that affect us all.

Once again THANK YOU YEAR 9!!!

Mrs Gardner