About a week later I arrived to pick up my kids from school. My son and his teacher were sitting outside waiting to greet me. He had an award sticker on his shirt and she said that he'd been elected class president. I wasn't aware of any election going on in his class and thought, "Oh, this was just a cute gimmick to teach the class about politics and everyone got elected." I was sincerely confused by the concept of my son being elected by his peers to be the class president. Upon further questioning, I realized that it was absolutely true. His teacher had required every student in the class of about 25 students, to write a speech and give it to the class. After that they all voted to elect a President and Vice President. His teacher said that he stood in front of the class and gave a "very convincing" speech and was elected by his classmates. I'm not going to lie; the speech was hilarious. (He was very sincere about it and not trying to be funny)
Here is the text of his speach:
"I am ___________, and I am running for class president.
If I am the president, we will have no schools on Wednesday. I will talk to Mr. ______ and he will make it happen. We need at least one weekday off because people need a break from school to be more focused when they are here.
I will also make Friday afternoon all recess. If you vote for me I will make changes.
All of the work makes us tired and we need to refresh our brains.
I will be a great president, trust me. I will be strong mentally and physically. I will be stronger than all the other presidents. When someone wants something, I will give it to them. I am really tall and I have a huge brain so I will be noticeable.
I am _________ and I approve this message."
We weren't able to read it without laughing. I wonder if maybe he was only elected because he promised to cancel school on Wednesdays. We need to teach him something about compaign promises that aren't realistic. Hmm, I wonder if that lesson could be taught to actual politicians? Yea, right.
It was just a 4th grade class and not the same big deal as a high school or jr. high campaign; but in the end, I was surprised and delighted to see that our son is quite capable of accomplishment. The challenges of Autism present themselves frequently. It's easy to get focused on those challenges and forget that there will be many gems and surprises along the way.
I will always be my son's biggest fan! I believe in you!
