Online gubernatorial forum
draws local high-schoolers
By Scott Mitchell Johnson
Staff Writer
ABOUT 20 PRESQUE ISLE HIGH SCHOOL STUDENTS participated in the Prepare Maine Gubernatorial Forum that originated last Wednesday from Bangor High School. The five gubernatorial candidates debated for 90 minutes in Bangor and students at satellite sites throughout the state watched live streams of the forum and participated in online chats. The local satellite site was organized by PIHS juniors, from left: Eric Freeman and Aidan Sawyer. Prepare Maine is an initiative launched by the Maine Coalition for Excellence in Education to bring education back to the center of Maine’s economic development strategy.
PRESQUE ISLE – Though many of them will be in college when they can vote in the 2014 gubernatorial election, that didn’t stop several Presque Isle High School students from being involved in this year’s political process.
PIHS was one of about 20 schools in the state that served as a satellite site during last Wednesday’s Prepare Maine Gubernatorial Forum that originated from Bangor High School. The five gubernatorial candidates debated for 90 minutes in Bangor and students at the remote sites watched live streams of the forum and participated in online chats.
“All of the satellite sites were hooked up to a central feed, and from there we were discussing the debate while it was happening,” said PIHS junior Eric Freeman, who co-organized the local event with fellow junior, Aidan Sawyer.
“We had a whole bunch of laptops and iMacs and hooked everyone up to the feed,” said Sawyer. “While the debate was going on, we were discussing what the candidates were saying and their ideas. Everyone had user names, and you could pick specific people and private message them so you could have individual discussions with them.”
Recognizing that they were too young to vote in yesterday’s election, Freeman and Sawyer said knowing where the candidates stood on various issues was still important to them.
Staff photo/Scott Mitchell Johnson
THE ONLY AROOSTOOK COUNTY gubernatorial debate was held last Tuesday – exactly one week prior to Election Day – at the Presque Isle Middle School auditorium. The debate was hosted by Leaders Encouraging Aroostook Development (LEAD) and WAGM-TV, and was moderated by LEAD member Jason Parent. Participating in the debate, which was broadcast live on WAGM’s CBS affiliate and two county radio stations, were, from left: Independent candidate Eliot Cutler, Republican Paul LePage, Democrat Libby Mitchell and Independent candidates Shawn Moody and Kevin Scott. More than 400 county residents attended the live debate. Results of yesterday’s election will appear in next week’s issue.
“Originally it was just us saying, ‘cool idea,’ but once we got into making PIHS a satellite site, we realized that this could be a great opportunity for other people to come and learn more about the candidates and the issues,” said Freeman, 17. “We’re both really interested in politics and both are involved in our school’s debate team, so this was a fun event for us.”
“We approached a few people that we knew would be interested and ended up having 20 students participate,” said Sawyer, 16. “I was pretty happy with the turnout. Originally we had expected about 10 students from our group, but then some teachers heard about it and they got their classes involved, which really helped.”
Freeman said the importance of education also helped boost participation.
“In our AP composition class for juniors, one of the things that we’re discussing is education,” he said. “This debate was primarily on education, so a lot of the AP comp students came and got involved in that because that’s what we’re doing in class.”
Both Freeman and Sawyer said if they could have voted Nov. 2, they would have cast their ballots for Independent Eliot Cutler.
“Through our personal study, what I found was that Eliot Cutler had a lot more solid plans,” said Sawyer, noting that the Prepare Maine debate was a non-partisan event. “I’m not really happy with the two party system, but when I’m old enough, I’ll probably register as a Republican so I can vote in the primaries.”
“What got me into Cutler was I had read an interview with him in Mainebiz,” Freeman said, noting that he, too, will likely register as a Republican. “I’m more of an economics person and I agreed with his economic policy and his plans for Maine’s future growth. We both thought he was able and the best candidate.”
The organizers said their peers enjoyed the event.
“I got some discussion in the halls this morning,” Freeman said, “saying how much people enjoyed it. I think it helped the students understand the candidates and the issues better just by having a discussion with other students and being engaged. I think that helped students through the political process.”
“Being able to dialogue with each other was great,” said Sawyer. “As soon as we started talking, people were really interested. I talked to a student at Nokomis Regional High School about the difference between a trades education and a regular education and how you balance that and the importance of attending a four-year college as opposed to a two-year college.”
“We discussed with other students everything from hot button moral issues to economics to education and health care,” Freeman said, “… a lot of key issues that are going on in the state and the nation right now. I’m really happy with how things went, and I hope the school will do something similar in the future.”
Freeman and Sawyer said their history teacher, Zachary Powers, was instrumental in helping pull the event together.
Prepare Maine is an initiative launched by the Maine Coalition for Excellence in Education to bring education back to the center of Maine’s economic development strategy.
