On October 24 the two candidates for the Mayor of Price, Mike Kourianos and Rick Adams came to speak to students at Lighthouse High School about why they are running for the position and what they intend to do should they win the election on November 7.

But their appearance was not so much about getting students for vote for them (many aren’t even old enough to do so) but to teach students about voting and why it is important.

Students at the school have been learning about the process and how it affects their lives. As number of voters in elections continue to fall across the country, particularly in “off year” elections, the school is trying to get students to see the importance of voting and how to select the best candidate to vote for.

“This is about them learning the system and how to research and understand what an election and candidate is about,” said Lighthouse Principal Karen Bedont.

Many of the students are not 18 years old yet, and some also come from outside the Price City limits, so they can’t vote for either of the candidates. But getting to see those running up close and listen to their presentations is a good education in democracy for the kids. 

To help the students analyze what is important, teachers gave students a guide to go by and with which to keep notes. Some of the questions asked on the handout were what office is the person who spoke running for, what are their qualifications, what are their concerns about the community and how they would fix those concerns and what future plans the candidate has for the community should they win the elections.

At the end of the session, students were given the chance to ask each candidate questions, based on their presentation and any issues the students may have thought of.