REGION — The Nov. 5 election didn’t just draw voters to the polls to fulfill their civic duties.

Twenty-seven students from Oxford Hills Comprehensive High School volunteered to ask citizens to participate in a survey survey, collecting data for use by the school district’s Elementary Building Committee as they tackle the challenges to consolidate four communities in a central school or build a community school in the west of Paris.

The project was coordinated by OHCHS social studies teachers Tyler DeMoore Gonzales and Travis Palmer, who teach an election civics unit.

“Teachers have been instrumental in finding students, organizing where students will go on election day, checking in on students during the day and communicating with me about the process,” Oxford Hills Commissioner Heather Manchester said. “We had two meetings with the students where we explained what we were hoping to achieve, getting input from them on the logistics of the day and talking to them about the survey and accompanying information so they could have knowledge of what was going on. .”

Manchester, Travis and DeMoore Conzales plan to hold a post-mortem discussion with the students to review the survey results and detail the day’s events.

Palmer told the Advertiser Democrat that the OHCHS freshmen were partnered with students in his election class and several other upperclassmen. Each student earned community service hours for participating in the survey request.

In their own words, some of the students shared their perspectives on the project with the Advertiser Democrat.

Senior Lidia Melanson from Norway found it interesting that the participants filling out the surveys wanted to know what the children thought too. Others declined, saying they did not have time or were not well-informed enough about elementary school issues to answer questions.

She got an oral history lesson of sorts, learning the context of Oxford Hills elementary schools since Maine School District 17 was formed.

“What stood out to me was how people saw (having) the city’s separate elementary schools, I personally think the consolidated elementary building has a positive impact on the community, hopefully making the bus trips for students shorter and making the transition to school middle school easier for many. of students.

“But when I was talking to other people, a lot of them brought up the fact that years ago there was an agreement that each town had its own individual elementary schools, which I wasn’t aware of. This made me understand why other people are not as excited about doing the consolidated elementary school…Each town having their own makes our school system unique.”

Otisfield senior Abby Marcotte was already well-versed in elections — she’s accompanied her family during elections since she was in the third grade. Still, she was impressed by how many voters participated in the presidential election.

“The turnout in my small town exceeded my expectations,” she said. “There was no time to sit down as voters cycled through the polls all day. People were interested in what this project would entail, as well as the logistics.”

While some people without children felt their input was unnecessary, Marcotte worked to convince them that as taxpayers, their opinions — negative and positive — were important for the district to consider.

“It showed me the kindness of the people in my small town of Otisfield, I didn’t get any negative comments,” she said, adding that most people were pleased to see her involvement in the survey project, in contrast to what some of her colleagues observed in other cities.

Angelica Hart, a junior from South Paris, said a highlight of working outside the polls was getting citizens involved in school district matters and learning productive ways to approach sensitive topics with them.

“I was able to find the best way to approach people who might be uneasy about these topics. With that I was able to have an educated conversation with people who normally wouldn’t want to hear the other side of it,” she said. “One part I enjoyed the most was educating the community about the building construction proposals.

“Before I didn’t think that being so young I could have an impact in the community in any way. Now I have learned how easy and accepting the community is for the younger generation and I would like to participate more in the community. It was heartwarming because most people took the time … to listen and consider these issues.”

For Hebron senior Emily Sanborn, the most difficult part of running a poll table was maintaining enthusiasm while informing voters about the details of the school’s construction projects.

“I discovered how important it is to get involved in your community,” she said. “So many members of my community had no idea what was going on in the school district, even if it directly affected them.” The issues are so big and extremely complex that it is not something we can ignore. I loved the experience and would do it a thousand times over.”

Ronan Brown, a senior in Waterford, found it challenging to articulate information to constituents who were unaware of the school construction and the potential impact of the consolidation on his town’s elementary school.

“I really enjoyed it, there were many cases of strange interactions, but not negative,” he said. “But the response was often positive and it was interesting how communication started between people in the community. Many people have been overwhelmingly positive in their enthusiasm to have their say.”

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