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Today's Lesson: Political Theater

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By RONNIE BLAIR, The Tampa Tribune

Published: January 29, 2008

DADE CITY - Pasco Middle students gathered in the school's auditorium hooted.

They hollered.

They blew noisemakers and popped balloons.

Educators are betting the boisterous seventh- and eighth-graders also learned something along the way.

The students staged mock Republican and Democratic conventions Monday, mimicking the real events right down to confetti blown across the stage, the signs touting favored candidates and the general pandemonium that erupted whenever a nominating speech ended.

Such raucousness usually is frowned upon at a middle school assembly, but Principal Jim Lane said he hoped the experience would help the students make a connection when they watch the actual conventions on television.

Even so, decorum had to be restored on occasion.

"Don't throw the balloons now," social studies teacher Tom Holcomb said when a few students' exuberance peaked too early.

The conventions were a project of the school's honors history class.

Seven students were assigned to research leading candidates in the campaigns and write nominating speeches based on what they learned.

The students and their candidates were: Carson Brock for Rudy Giuliani, Aaron Pingel for Mitt Romney, Tasha Chodury for Mike Huckabee, Trevor Gibson for John McCain, Gabrielle Mitchell for Hillary Rodham Clinton, Tyler Adams for John Edwards and Adrian Rayborn for Barack Obama.

Holcomb gave them samples of nominating speeches to use as guides.

"So far, they've done a really nice job," Holcomb said four speeches into the event.

The students held two Republican conventions, touting former Arkansas Gov. Huckabee and Arizona Sen. McCain in the morning and former New York Mayor Giuliani and former Massachusetts Gov. Romney in the afternoon.

They heard speeches about Sens. Clinton of New York and Obama of Illinois and former Sen. Edwards of North Carolina in one Democratic convention during the final class period of the day.

Students also voted on four resolutions during the afternoon Republican convention. They supported bringing U.S. troops home from Iraq by the end of 2009, providing universal health care for everyone and establishing a government program to provide immediate assistance on mortgage foreclosure for people about to lose their homes. The students opposed building a fence along the Mexican border to keep out illegal immigrants.

Pass or fail, decisions were met with hoots and hollers.

Any actual political leanings appeared irrelevant.

Students who whooped it up for Giuliani went just as bonkers for Romney.

They held Obama signs when he was nominated, then traded them in for Clinton signs when her turn arrived.

Holcomb helped initiate cheers during the applause lines for all the speeches.

He also served as an equal opportunity chanter, whether the moment called for him to shout, "Rudy! Rudy! Rudy!" or "Romney! Romney! Romney!" or "Barack! Barack! Barack!"

Patriotic music helped punctuate the speeches.

By day's end, confetti was scattered across the floor and the seats.

Asked whose job it was to clean that up, Holcomb joked, "I had to make a special deal with the custodian. It cost me a lot of chocolate chip cookies."

Reporter Ronnie Blair can be reached at (813) 948-4218 or rblair@tampatrib.com.

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