Vote Iz 2006!

Vote Iz 2006!

Iz is reading the speech below today, as part of her campaign to become 3rd grade representative. Apparently her opposition got so nervous about reading their speeches in front of the entire school that the staff decided to limit the third grade speeches to their classrooms.

It has been a rocky road, this campaign. Iz kept blowing deadlines and pulling things off at the last minute, which to me means that perhaps she is not the best candidate for political office. She forgot all about writing her speech until the morning it was due--at which point due to carpooling schedules she did not have enough time to write it at home. Seymour and I told her that we were sorry that she was so sad, but that we couldn't help her, and privately thought that this was a good natural consequences learning opportunity. However our neighbor Alys, Marys's kind-hearted mom who was driving them to school that day, ended up helping Iz write a quick draft because she felt so sorry for our devastated girl (to Iz's credit, she didn't mention why she was so sad until Alys asked her--I was worried that Iz manipulated Alys as she sometimes does when she doesn't get results from the first adult). So Iz was back in the game.

Then the speeches and the election all ended up getting pushed back anyhow and the entire process spun off into amorphousness. Iz missed speech rehearsal yesterday because she didn't understand the directions. I though she was being flaky, but Seymour--as her campaign manager, because I refused to be involved--went to school with her this morning to find out what the real story was. I thought this smacked of over-involved parenting and so confirmed that he was there on an information-gathering rather than a lobbying mission, which he assured me was the case.

Turns out it was a good thing he went. The entire election has been very disorganized; any confusion on Iz's part was reasonable rather than due to flakyness. The principal read, approved, and loved Iz's speech (and was impressed as he is Ira Rusk!n's neighbor). He also assured Seymour that the third grade reps do nothing but show up to the meetings, and that their experience in both the election as as members of student government is for training wheels purposes only. So maybe Iz'll squeak into an elected position. I still think that she should have shown some proactiveness on any one factor, but as I am not her campaign manager I can only state my opinion.

Here is her speech. I think it is cute and very much her. Though I personally think she has more in common with Teddy Roosevelt, she prefers Eleanor because ER didn't let her era's gender constraints prevent her from kicking ass on both national and international levels.

Hello my name is Isobel. I am in 3rd grade. If I am elected, I will try to make it a good year for 3rd grade. I will work hard, and do the best I can to represent the needs of 3rd grade. One way I can help 3rd graders is to bring in books to share, on topics such as history, science, and nature, since these are my favorite subjects.

This is my first year at Big Noggin and I would like to learn what it is like to be part of an important group. I am running for 3rd grade representative because I would like to show responsibility. And I think I would learn a lot about politics.

One politician I admire is Ira Rusk!n, who is our state representative. He is the former mayor of Deadwood City. I have met him 2 times and got his autograph. He has done a lot for schools, the environment and Deadwood City.

I also admire Eleanor Roosevelt. She helped poor people by giving them food. She was a representative to the United Nations. She was first lady and traveled all over the world to visit American soldiers. She spoke up for women’s rights, and for the rights of Native Americans, and young homeless people. Once a group called the Daughters of the American Revolution wouldn’t let Marian Anderson, a great singer, perform in their hall because of her race. So, Eleanor quit the group, and arranged for her to sing in front of the Lincoln Memorial instead.

You should vote for me because I have the right qualities. I am:

Imaginative
Creative
and hard working

One of my other skills is to do big projects. Examples of big projects I will do for the 3rd grade is coming up with ways for everyone to get to know each other, for instance bring all the 3rd graders together to exchange letters and drawings. This helps the school because no one would be lonely, and we want everyone to be happy.

As your representative, you can always come to me with your ideas, and I will share them with the teachers, the principal, and the other representatives. It is your choice, but I hope you will vote for me.

Thanks!

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