In the 1996 presidential election, about one quarter of New York s entire student population, participated in the Mock Election. The League of Women Voters, acting as mock election coordinator, focused their efforts on elementary as well as high schools and worked in conjunction with parent teacher organizations, and social studies coordinators to reach students. Hildreth said that community involvement is the key to the mock election s success. It is the people in your life, especially educators, who are the role models and set a picture of positive possibilities in your mind. We are stimulated to talk about and practice politics by those around us.
People turn increasingly to television and media, but there is no interaction.
I can see Peter Jennings and hear him, but I can talk to you. It is this interaction that is specifically influential. Hildreth has been a member of the University faculty for eight years. She is also the political instructor for Empire Girls State, a program sponsored by the American Legion Auxiliary, which brings over 360 high school junior to the Albany area each year to engage in local and state politics. She has also received an award for her involvement in Pi Sigma Alpha, the political science honor society.