Even though many Pinellas Park High School students were unable to vote in the actual presidential election on November 4, their voices were still heard. On Election Day, Kimberly Nash’s classes took charge and gave the students an opportunity to place their votes for President of the United States.
    Before the mock election could take place, Nash’s classes had to complete a comprehensive political project which consisted of written biographies and an in-class debate. The purpose of the biographies was to help students learn about the candidate who they would be representing in the in-class debate. 
     Focusing on issues pertinent to this year’s campaign, the in-class debate allowed students to pair up and each student represented one of the candidates. Following the debate, Nash’s classes held an election. The results of the class election would determine Nash’s vote in the actual presidential election. Next came the most grandiose part of Nash’s project: the school wide election.
    The day of the actual election, Nash’s classes visited the majority of PPHS English classes to have students vote for the candidate they wanted to win the election. "Most teachers were willing to let my class hold it. The student body was very supportive," said Nash of the school wide election. 
    The objective through the course of her project was to try and give the students a voice. When asked about the goal of the class election, Nash said "[I want to] teach them to really look into the candidate so they won’t just pick randomly."  Tired of hearing comments such as "I’m going to vote for him because he is black," Nash felt compelled to teach students the importance of researching politics before casting their votes.
    Proud of her students and pleased with the outcome, Nash’s class project has come to an end. The process "went very smoothly" said Nash. "The students stepped up to the plate. The debates went very well. [The students were] very mature." The winners were announced by Nash, Ginger Brengle, and Lydia Blätter (LS) on the morning show on November 5.
    In the end, Obama won both the school’s and the nation’s vote for President of the United States. Nash was not surprised by the results. "Obama really did push for the younger generation."