Meeting of the NJ Mock Election Supporting Organizations



Meeting of the NJ Mock Election Supporting Organizations

Plans for the 2008 New Jersey Student/Parent Mock Election are moving along nicely, but we still need your help to nail down some important details leading up to October 30, the day schools will report their election results.

You are cordially invited to attend a planning meeting of New Jersey Student/Parent Mock Election supporting organizations at Noon on Friday, September 5, at the New Jersey Press Association offices in West Trenton.

The New Jersey Press Foundation will provide lunch at no charge.

As you likely know, NJPF was chosen as the New Jersey state coordinator of the National Student/Parent Mock Election.

Please send me an e-mail response by Friday, August 29, to let me know how many people from your organization will be attending the luncheon meeting (I need to get a headcount for the lunch). My e-mail address is: programs@.

Our offices are on the third floor of 840 Bear Tavern Road, in the Mountain View Office Park adjacent to Exit 2 of I-95. If you are arriving via I-95, turn left at the top of the ramp and turn right at the first traffic signal. Building 840 is at the back left corner of the office park.

On the next page is the meeting agenda. I’ve also included an interim report of what has been accomplished since the first meeting of supporting organizations on June 18. A list of tasks still to be completed follows that report.

I hope you will examine the Mock Election website before the meeting and come prepared to make suggestions on how it can be improved. The web address is: .

I’ll look forward to your response.

Tom Engleman, program director

New Jersey Press Foundation

840 Bear Tavern Road, Suite 305

West Trenton, NJ 08628-1019

programs@

Phone: 609-406-0600, ext. 19

Meeting of the NJ Mock Election Supporting Organizations

September 5, 2008

12 noon lunch included

New Jersey Press Association

840 Bear Tavern Road, Suite 305, West Trenton, NJ 08628

Agenda

Welcome and Introductions

Old Business:

1 Summarize June 18 meeting and review website

2 Request additional letters of endorsement and support

Lunch

New Business:

1 Approve the Mock Election Ballots

2 Discuss Voting Procedures in Schools, October 20-30

3 Discuss an “Election Central” event for the evening of October 30

1 Need producer

2 Need venue

3 Need agenda

4 Ideas on how to stimulate the interest of students and parents

Adjourn: Approximately 2 p.m.

NJ Mock Election Interim Report

August 13, 2008

The following tasks were completed following the first meeting of the

Mock Election Supporters on June 18:

NJPF continues to update the New Jersey Mock Election website. The web address is: .

NJPF updated the school enrollment form as suggested at the June 18 meeting. The form is posted on the website.

NJPF started a database of schools that have returned enrollment forms, indicating they will participate in the Mock Election. As of August 13, a total of 24 schools with 8,367 students have registered. This list includes several schools that registered directly through the National Student/Parent Mock Election website.

Four organizations have written letters of endorsement, which are posted on the website. The letters are from the New Jersey Education Association, New Jersey Department of Education, New Jersey PTA and New Jersey Skills USA.

The following other organizations have endorsed and/or have provided support for the Mock Election: New Jersey Division of Elections (N.J. Department of State), New Jersey Commission on Higher Education, New Jersey Association for Gifted Children, the New Jersey League of Women Voters and the New York Giants.

The N.J. Division of Elections sent NJPF a database of schools that participated in the 2005 Mock Election. Those schools will be mailed letters the last week of August, inviting them to return the enrollment form for the 2008 Mock Election.

The New Jersey Department of Education sent NJPF a database of principals of all New Jersey schools. The principals will be mailed letters the last week of August, inviting them to return the enrollment form for the 2008 Mock Election.

NJPF sent all of the state’s Newspaper in Education coordinators the enrollment form to distribute to the schools they work with. The newspapers also were sent a flier they can use as a “house ad” in their newspapers and to send to teachers.

The NIE coordinators at seven newspapers (including the Philadelphia Inquirer) have agreed to promote the Mock Election to schools in their New Jersey circulation areas. They have been sent a promotional flier and address labels of schools that participated in the 2005 Mock Election and address labels for the principals of all New Jersey schools. The mailings, which are scheduled for the last week of August, will include the enrollment form.

The New York Giants organization agreed to have a player read the script for a public service announcement about the Mock Election. Scripts were sent to the Giants and were recorded by their broadcasting department during the Giants training camp in August. The player is Mathais Kiwanuka, a linebacker who was a first-round draft pick in 2006. George Nytkas of the Division of Elections arranged the taping of the PSAs.

NJPF purchased two newspaper supplements and a curriculum guide from Hot Topics/Hot Serials, a vendor of Newspaper in Education materials, and sent them to participating NIE programs. The newspapers will distribute the supplements (tabloid sections of the newspaper) and the curriculum guide in September to teachers who receive newspapers in their classrooms. The supplements also are available through the websites of some of the newspapers. These materials provide helpful information about elections for students to study as they prepare to participate in the Mock Election.

NJPF created a backup procedure for balloting and the reporting of election results, should the national plan being developed by Google and School Perceptions not work.

NJPF sent a news release about the Mock Election and an enrollment form to all of the organizations receiving this E-mail, in hopes they will publicize the Mock Election in their newsletters and websites.

NJPF sent a news release to all New Jersey newspaper publishers and editors to urge them to promote the Mock Election to their readers. Editors were asked to reserve space in their October 31 editions for the Mock Election results.

The following tasks remain to be done:

Continue to receive school enrollments and add them to the database that will be sent in October to School Perceptions, a company under contract with the National Student/Parent Mock Election headquarters. The vast majority of the enrollments will be received in September and October.

Send all New Jersey school enrollments to School Perceptions. The ballots and election-reporting instructions will be E-mailed to schools by School Perceptions.

Prepare the final Mock Election ballot for each of the state’s 13 Congressional Districts and send them to School Perceptions. The ballots will be posted on a special Google website for teachers to retrieve and distribute to students the day of the Mock Election.

Post the audio public service announcements on the Mock Election website and ask all New Jersey radio stations to run the announcements in September and October.

Plan an event to announce the Mock Election results on October 30.

Test the procedure for distributing ballots and reporting election results during the first two weeks of October.

Receive the New Jersey results from Google the evening of October 30 and report the results to New Jersey media.

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