On Tuesday Nov. 8, America voted Donald Trump President-elect of the United States of America. The days before and following the election were used to cover the event in schools.

At HHS, students learned and discussed the ins and outs of the 2016 Presidential Election, predominantly in their social studies classes.

“Teachers from around the district met in a K-12 election committee to discuss best practices for teaching the election that were shared with teachers at all grades,” social studies Supervisor Cynthia Assini said. “The committee suggested that teachers address both the election process and information about the candidates in age-appropriate ways.”

One of the largest concerns of the committee was to ensure an accepting environment for students, where they could freely share their opinions.

“Our team of social studies educators asked students to listen intently to each other, back up their ideas with evidence, and restate the argument of a peer prior to disagreeing kindly; we also encouraged the participation of all students in the discussion,” Assini said

In history teacher Donald Adams’s AP United States History classes, students used the days before the election to complete a project comparing the 2016 candidates to those of the presidents of the Progressive Era. After the election, a class-wide discussion was held, on why the results turned out the way they did.

“I found learning about the election in school to be a very valuable experience,” junior Michael Shokoff, a student of Adams, said.

Discussing the election in class also provided students with the chance to build and support their arguments, a skill that is necessary both in and out of politics.

“Talking about a topic that has multiple perspectives, such as the election, provides students with the opportunity to practice thinking critically and supporting their claims with facts,” Assini said.

Regardless of students’ opinions on the election’s results, hopefully they gained insight on America’s democratic system and will seek to carry out their rights as citizens by voting in the coming years.