Krazy Dippers Win
WEST SUNBURY — Krazy dippers won the favorite food election at Dassa McKinney Elementary School with a popular vote of 476 to 194 and an Electoral College vote of 417 to 125.
“I was surprised by the margin of victory because in the primaries it was a virtual tie,” said Moniteau School District's gifted coordinator Jeremy Borkowski. “...Both campaigns did an excellent job, and it was exciting to see democracy in practice in the most basic form.”
Teaching elementary students about the presidential election process, including the Electoral College vote, can be a daunting task.
That's why Borkowski decided to explain the process with something students are already familiar with and easily excited about: food.
“I love politics, and I thought this would be a great way to help the kids learn,” Borkowski said.
Borkowski, with the help of teachers and principals, did a poll of the school to figure out the favorite foods.
The top seven choices were, breakfast pizza, stuffed crust pizza, personal pan pizza, pancakes, turkey sandwiches, tacos and krazy dippers.
Krazy dippers is a meal of a cheese stick, a pretzel and a chicken finger with cheese and marina sauces.
Borkowski had seven of his gifted students become campaign managers of each of the foods.
The campaign managers spoke to students at recess, during lunch and during the morning announcements about their food and the election process.
“They had to inform (students), just as you don't necessarily know what a candidate stands for, so by word of month, listening to your friends and others in the community, you learn to be informed to make that educated vote,” Borkowski said.
Campaign managers also made posters to promote their favorite food.
“I told them to think about press in the country,” Borkowski said. “A poster that you make for first grade isn't going to be the same as the poster you make for sixth grade.”
A primary election was held to narrow the choices, leaving krazy dippers and stuffed crust pizza as the top two choices.It then became a race to see which food would be served for lunch on Election Day alongside carrots, apple slices and salad to make a complete meal.Each classroom was given a number of Electoral College votes, just as the states receive.“They created their own state names and state flags,” Borkowski said. “Based off the population of the classroom, that's how we decided what the electoral vote was.”The foods were given a color, which was decided by coin toss. Krazy dippers became red, while stuffed crust pizza became blue.The other campaign managers joined sixth- graders James Parenti to represent krazy dippers or Trinity Nassy to represent stuffed-crust pizza.Borkowski, with the help of fourth-grade teacher Jennifer Cygan, provided educational resources for teachers to use in their classrooms.“The teachers had the option to modify it to each grade level,” Borkowski said. “You always have certain kids with certain talents, and they would be better able to be a better judge of what to do.”The election came to a head during the food debate held Friday.Jennifer Zellefrow, Moniteau School District director of food service, acted as the moderator for the debate, which focused on the nutritional value of each food.The entire school filled the Dassa McKinney, gymnasium, showing their support with stuffed crust pizza and krazy dipper posters.James pumped up his supporters by peeking out from behind the curtain and giving a presidential wave.The debate was started with a trumpet solo from sixth grader Lauren Bowser.Trinity wore a classic suit with blue shirt and encouraged her supporters to rally together and vote for stuffed-crust pizza.James with his red tie supporting his food color, told students, “A vote for krazy dippers is a vote for fun.”Trinity asked students if they remembered what meal was served at their favorite birthday parties — pizza.“Pizza is a classic lunch choice,” Trinity said.Both parties said their food contained dairy thanks to cheese, tomatoes in the marinara sauce and plenty of carbohydrates.The debate was heated after a student in the audience asked, “How will I get my nutritional value from krazy dippers if I'm playing with my food?”James' response was, “I in no way implied that you're playing with your food.”Trinity then pointed out that krazy dippers might have too many carbohydrates, which could cause students to gain weight.Another student in the audience asked, “What if you are allergic to cheese?”James explained students could trade the mozzarella choice for another chicken or bread stick.When asked if she was nervous, Trinity said, “I am not nervous, because I have first grade and kindergarten supporters.”Students wore red and blue to school on Monday to support their food candidates while placing their votes.On Tuesday, the nation's Election Day, the students were encouraged to wear red, white and blue.“We are going to talk about and understand that your choice might not win, but at the end of the day we have to come together and celebrate the election,” Borkowski said.The result was announced Tuesday morning and students enjoyed the winning food for lunch that day.Principal Dolores Bliss, said, “There is a nice connection between what the election process really is to the election process of food, which kids can identity so greatly with, so I think it would be a great thing to continue.”
