The first week of the project, participating classes were invited to introduce themselves through an online roll call at the 2004 CyberConvention Blog. Here are the roll call greetings received:

Greetings from Mrs. Townsend's Class, hailing from the great state of Massachusetts! I am a fifth grade teacher in Salem, MA and am excited about introducing my students to this exciting project on Wednesday when they return to school from summer vacation. Boston, about 30 minutes south of Salem, was just home to the DNC. It will be interesting to see how my students view this election and which candidate they would like to see become the next President.

Greetings from Ms. Humleker's U.S. History class, hailing from the GREAT state of Wisconsin home of the Packers, Badgers, and awesome 8th graders! We consist of 76 students in Appleton Wisconsin (about 1.5 hours north of Milwaukee). Our curriculum is focused on the formation of our nation and extends through 1900. Obviously many elections are discussed throughout the year and this cyberconvention will be a great way for students to more fully understand the election processes of our great nation! As school just started last Wednesday, everyone is rather overwhelmed and tired but when discussing this project, the attitude perked up considerably! We are all looking forward to communicating with other classes and playing an active role in the history happening around us!

Greetings from Mrs. McNeme's 4th grade Class, hailing from the great state of Texas! We are located north of Dallas in the fastest growing school district in Texas. As GW's home state we will be focusing on the issues and not just "voting" as is expected. Greetings from Mrs. Betonte's 5th grade class hailing from Wild, Wonderful, West, (by gosh), Virginia! We are in Fairmont, West Virginia located by the beautiful Monongahela River near the home of the WVU Mountaineers.. Dunbar is populated by fifth and sixth graders with widely differing backgrounds. We (2 U.S. History classes - 40 students) are very excited to be involved in the 2004 NCC project. We are looking forward to hearing from others, learning about others, and participating in the 2004 election with all 50 states!

Greetings from Mrs. Perry's 6th graders at Oxford Elementary School in Claremont, North Carolina.
We are excited about studying the election process and plan a mock election on 11/1.

Greetings from Ms. Hayes' Class hailing from the great state of Iowa! I teach American Government to seniors at Jefferson-Scranton High School in Jefferson. We are really excited to be involved in teh cyberconvention.

Greetings from Mr. Harris's Class, hailing from the great state of Maryland! We are 24 sixth graders in Bowie, Maryland, outside our nation's capitol. We are a talented and gifted magnet school. This shows in our participation in chorus, band, safety patrols, peer mediation, and morning announcements. We are very excited to get started in the 2004 National Cyberconvention!

Hello from the Great Bayou State of Louisiana! My name is Mr. Garland and I teach Social Studies in a small K-12 school in the middle of the swamps on the edge of Lake Maurepas. This year I am teaching grades
7, 8, 10, and 11. We are pumped for the upcoming election.

Greeting from Hickory, North Carolina. My name is Danyell Lincoln and I teach sixth grade, math, science, and social studies, to 58 students. My students are looking forward to starting this exciting project. Mr. Lincoln

"Greetings from Mrs. Wright's Class, hailing from the great state of North Carolina!" I am teaching both Honors C & E (Civics and Economics) as well as Inclusion C & E, at the 10th grade level. My students have very strong opinions already on the candidates and I look forward to hearing about other activities and student opinions.

Greetings from Miss Rager's class in Goodlettsville, Tennessee (a suburb of Nashville). I teach advanced reading, math, and language arts to my WONDERFUL 5th graders! I also teach 2 social studies classes. Our SS curriculum focuses on American History Civil War to the present. I look forward to working with this project!

Greetings from Ms. Doris Garcia's Class, hailing from the great state of West Virginia. I teach social studies to three sixth grade classes in Fairmont. Dunbar has seven fifth grades and seven sixth grade classes. We are anxiously awaiting the building of our new school.

Greetings from Miss Haverly's Class, hailing from the great state of Maryland! We are in Annapolis. There are 21 students in our fourth grade class. If we behave, we get scholar dollars. We try to be the best school in the world! We are very excited to be a part of the Cyber Convention. We have been in other places besides Annapolis, and maybe we've
been to places where you live. We look forward to voting.

Greetings from Mr. Grzybowski's class, hailing from the great state of New York! We are a fifth grade class from Massapequa New York. We are very excited to participate in this CyberConvention! We really need to research the two candidates, because we are not sure who will make the BEST president for our country!

Greetings fellow delegates! We hail to you from the great state of Kentucky, home of former presidents Abraham Lincoln and Jefferson Davis. We are a class of fifth graders located in the Northern part of Kentucky in Covington. We are excited to learn more about this tedious presidential election of 2004. Not only does this election affect our grandparents but it affects "US". We are glad to be informed! Let's get the ball rolling.

Greetings from the great state of Illinois. We are located in Alsip, Illinois, a southwestern suburb of Chicago. Our 200 seventh grade students in Mrs. Mayfield's, Mr. Kight's, Mrs. Domeracki's and Mr. Chittenden's Social Studies classes are participating in the 2004 CyberConvention. All are very excited to make their voices heard regarding this year's presidential and senatorial campaigns. See our Media Center's website for the articles and resources we will be using to become informed about the candidates and issues so that we make educated decisions about who should run our country!

Greetings from Mrs. Bockiaro's third grade class located in Inverness Florida. We are excited about being part of this cyber experience even though so much of the election process is new to third graders.

Greetings from the Patten School, hailing from the Great state of North Carolina, also known as the Tar Heel state. This nickname originated in colonial times due to the 100,000 barrels of tar and pitch that was produced and exported annually. Stacking, burying, and burning our state tree the longleaf pine produced the popular nautical sealant. It was a messy job and tar would get on the feet of the many Carolinians employed in this major industry. The name was said to have really “stuck” after a Civil War battle and General Robert E. Lee was quoted as saying, “ God bless the Tar Heel boys!” We are proud that two Tar Heel boys became U.S. Presidents. James K. Polk who became the 11th President and the first “ dark horse” presidential nominee in U.S history. Then a Raleigh born Democrat, Andrew Johnson, became Republican Abraham Lincoln's Vice President under the Union Party. He was elevated to the 17th President after Lincoln's assassination but was never reelected. Our school is also Raleigh born. We are a family of 5 students always learning in every situation, set of circumstances, and experience gaining knowledge, training, and discipline. We have been looking forward to this great opportunity and excited that so many are participating. Let the 2004 NCC begin!

Greetings from Mrs. Portnoy's class, hailing from the great state of Pennsylvania! We are a fifth grade class of 24 students. We are about 45 minutes northwest of Philadelphia. Philadelphia is the most historical city in the nation. We are going to study the American Revolution and the beginning of freedom in our country. Our class is studying elections as part of our unit on the Constitution. We care about learning about the candidates and choosing a good President. We will be building voting booths, registering voters, and organizing an election for every student in our school (about 800 kids). We wish to talk to you soon and we hope that everyone votes!

Greetings from the sunny side of the north Florida Panhandle area. We are four groups of 6th Grade students in Bristol, Florida. We are excited and looking forward to the Cyberconvention, and we plan to ask our local supervisor of elections to support a mock election here on campus. We are a little water logged from "Frances" and anxious about Ivan.
We haven't had it as badly as those in central and south Florida.

Greetings! My name is Jen Gembala, and I teach Civics/American Government to grades 9-12 in Windsor, Connecticut. Our students live in the oldest town in the state, and although most of my students would complain there's nothing to do, the calm atmosphere and diverse population make it a great town to grow up in! My class is participating in the CyberConvention as part of our Civics curriculum and we look forward to learning as much as we can about this monumental election!

Greetings from Ms. Migdon's Sixth Grade Class hailing from the great state of Virginia. Viginia is one of the most important states in the country because we gave Washington, DC some of the land for the capital. We are in Reston, Virginia. We are a great school because we learn all year long! We make many friends at our school. We treat others with respect. We have a wonderful faculty and our Principal was chosen the National Distinguished Principal form the State of Virginia. Virginia is a fantastic state to live in because we have beautiful weather and great sport teams. We are very excited to be participating in the National Cyber Convention. Thank you!!!

Greetings from Mrs. Palmers 3rd thru 5th grade classes, hailing from the great state of Michigan! We are eight classes of students that have technology class with Mrs. Palmer once each week for 45 minutes. We are excited to learn more about voting.

Greetings from Mrs. Carpenter's Class, hailing from the great state of Kentucky! We are a classroom full of diverse, opinionated seniors. We are very enthusiastic about whatever party we stand for, but open-minded and supportive of our fellow classmates opinions and ideas. We are energetic, optimistic, and proud of our beautiful state.

Hello to everyone from Ms. Flicker's calss in the great state of North Carolina! I teach 4th graders, in Reading and Social Studies. Our school is located in Burke County, but our physical address is in Hickory. Our school also has our own student government which the students can become part of in 5th grade. The students are very excited about learning
more about the election process and the candidates.

Greetings from Mrs. Tarpley's class hailing from the great state of Georgia. I teach 3 5th grade classes American History. We are looking forward to participating in this project.

Greetings from Miss Qonja and Mrs. Newman's class, hailing from the great state of Michigan! We are a multi-age 4th and 5th grade classroom. We are also a very diverse classroom and we're very excited to learn about the election process and compare it to that of other countries. Along with that, the 5th graders are involved in a laptop program and we're excited to be using the Internet to learn! We're looking forward to participating in the Cyber Convention! May the best candidate win!

Greetings from Ms. Moss's class in the great state of Lexington, Kentucky! We are so excited to learn all we can about the democratic process of the United States!

Hi, I'm Mrs. Opdahl from Pleasant Hill School in Waukesha, WI. I have a class of 26 fourth graders. We are very excited about the upcoming election and being able to participate in this cyber-election.

"Greetings from the Hoosier State". We are a Fourth grade class of 13, from Vincennes, Indiana. Our Teacher is Mrs. Jackson. We are proud of our historical state, and we have several historical sites right here in Vincennes.George Rogers Clark won a big battle here in the Revolutionary War. We are beginning to talk about the election and starting to work on some campaign projects. We are excited about this project!!

Greetings form Ms. Morgan's Class, hailing the great state of West Virginia. We are a group of 25 sixth graders that are excited about the election. We are beginning our own elections for Student Council at our school in Fairmont, West Virginia. Fairmont is known for gymnast, Mary Lou Retton as well as our famous Pepperoni Rolls.

Greetings from the great state of Georgia! Mrs. Kilgore-Kelly's eigth grade Gifted Georgia Studies class is excited to participate in the CyberConvention. Georgia is home to world famous actress Julia Roberts and country music star Travis Tritt. Jimmy Carter, the 39th president, was born and raised here. During 1996, Atlanta hosted the 26th Olympiad. Georgia is home to rolling hills, coastal plains, and sky scraping mountains. One of the 13 colonies, Georgia has something for everyone.

Greetings from the state of Indiana. We are in Mrs. Donovan's fifth grade class in Vincennes, IN. There are twenty-eight students in our class.
Our hometown, Vincennes, is located in southwest Indiana. Our city is very historical!! Did you know that Vincennes is the oldest town in Indiana? We are excited about the upcoming election and participating in this internet project.

Greetings from Mr. Socha's class, hailing from the state of Michigan, also known as the Great Lakes State, and 'the Mitten'. We are first graders in the city made famous in song and print: Kalamazoo!

Greetings from Ms. Brissenden-Lowe's 7th and 8th Grade Class, hailing from the big island of Iceland! Greetings from Mrs. Olberding's class of the Great State of Nebraska. Home of the Ord "Chants," "Chimney Rock," Oregon Trail, Golden Farm and Ranch Fields, Tom Osborne, Evelyn Sharp (early female pilot), Chalk Mines, and the Sandhills-Flyway of the Sandhill Cranes.

“Greetings form Mrs.Cavallo's class, hailing from the great state of Pennsylvania”, home of the Steelers, Penguins, and Pirates. We are participating in this event as a club. We come from Patton, Pennsylvania. We are one of the 18 participating classes from the Keystone state. We are proud to participate, and look forward to the election results.

Hello! We are three eighth grade classes from Bloomfield Hills in Oakland County in the great state of Michigan. We are participating as part of our computer program, and look forward to learning more about the issues affecting the national elections this year. Michigan is the Great Lakes State, home of the Petoskey Stone, Traverse City cherries, the Motor City and birthplace of Motown Music. We look forward to representing our state in the National Cyber Convention! Mrs. Linetzky's grade 8 computer classes

Greetings from Mrs. Williams' class, hailing from the great state of North Carolina. We are home to scenic mountains, gorgeous beaches, the first flight by man, Nascar, Bar-B-Q, and the BEST COLLEGIATE BASKETBALL in the country! There's nothing finer than to be in Carolina!

Hello from Ms. Finney's and Ms. Caldroney's 8th grade classes here in Versailles, Kentucky. All of our students are excited about this project, and look forward to getting started!

Walter, The Government class at Bear Lake Schools in Bear Lake Michigan is ready to participate. We are looking forward to the elections and all the new things that we will be learning. Thanks Ms. Townsend

Greetings from Ms. Sacconaghi's class, hailing from the great state of Oregon. Oregon is the proud home of the International headquarters for Nike. Yes it is true that we do get some rain. But on the positive side it keeps our beautiful forests VERY green. Some unique sights in Oregon include Crater Lake, Mt. Hood, and a variety of gorgeous ocean beaches. We have 170 students participating in NCC.

Greetings from Mr. Ivey's Humanities class hailing from the great state of Massachusetts, capital Boston, home of Celtics, Patriots, Bruins, James Naismith the creator of basketball, the Boston Red Sox, and Stoneleigh-Burnham Middle School of which we are the founders. Our school started in 1869, and this year we started in 2004 on September 8. We consist of 10 girls, six 7th graders and four 8th graders. Our school is based in Greenfield, Massachusetts, about two hours away from Boston. Our curriculum is based on reading, writing, and projects. We are excited about working together, learning about the election, and discussing the election of 2004 with other schools throughout the nation.

Hello from Portland, Oregon! My name is Ms. Silvestri and I teach in a multi-age classroom (6th, 7th, 8th). At my students' request, I am going to focus our social studies class on the upcoming election. We are extremely excited to be a part of the CyberConvention and can't wait to get started. School officially begins next week and we will be ready!

Mrs. Clinard's class hailing from the the great state of Missouri says hello. We are located in a rural community in southeast missouri with the Mississippi River forming the western boundary of our county. My class of third graders is 27 strong with 19 boys and 8 girls. Our town of East Prairie has about 3,000 people. We are getting interested in the upcoming election. Get out the vote!

I've just looked at the delegate map and see that my 6 classes will join over a dozen others here in southwestern Indiana from the historical community of Vincennes. The potential for excitement in learning about elections is great for my 107 sixth graders as we join many other classrooms across the nation. Here at (George Rogers) Clark Middle School we mostly study Canada, Latin America, and Europe, but the election process is also part of our standards. I am "politics" shy and feel that this project will help me immerse the kids in this important civic duty. Ms. Duffey 6th grade social studies

Hello fellow delegates! We are from Vincennes, Indiana. We are in Mr. Connor's 6th Grade Social Studies classes. We are participating because we want to energize people's belief in voting. Vincennes is awesome. Vincennes is home to George Roger's Clark Memorial and our school, Clark, is named after it. We want to vote because we think we should get ready for our future, and the demands of others. We are looking forward to working on this project with the rest of you! Explorer Delegates from Vincennes

Greetings from Mrs. Imbesi's class, hailing from the great state of New York! We are a fifth grade class from Massapequa, New York. We are very excited to participate in this CyberConvention!

Dear Pard'ners in Learn'in (we don't really talk this way)! We are the G/T 3rd and 4th graders at Sparks Elementary in Frisco, Texas. The President was the govenor of OUR state and you can guess who we favor. We are very excited about the 2004 National Cyberconvention! We think it will be fun because we can correspond with other learners across the Nation and we will actually get to vote even though we know our votes won't really count.

Greetings from Chicago! My name is Ms. Conley and I am about three weeks into my first year of teaching in Chicago,Illinois. I have a tiny, but mighty class of 12 fifth graders. The kids are very excited about participating in this project, and I am learning right along with them each day.

Dear USA, We are 3rd and 4th grade G/T students from Frisco, Texas. We are looking forward to participating in the Cyberconvention and working with other students across the US to elect either John Kerry or George W. Bush. To us having a President means a lot. We don't know why someone would not vote that could. Sincerely, Mrs. Gamble's Class

Greetings from Mrs. Otto's class, hailing from the great state of Nebraska! Our home is in Omaha, on the state's western border along the Missouri River. We are pleased to join this politicial force - what a great opportunity to participate in the current events of our country and see the connection between various learning environments. Someday, the experiences of the next few weeks may even make more sense as future elections take place. After building Ancient Greece (some of which looked more similar to the ruins) we're ready to get back to the present. Here we go!

Hello, USA We are the 5th graders of Spears Elementary from the great state of Texas. We are very excited about the election and hope you are too! In Social Studies class we have been learning a lot about the upcoming election. We are looking forward to the school-wide vote that will be conducted by the 5th grade classes. We can't wait to compare our results with
other schools across the U.S.

Hi, my name is Ms. Florence and I am a sixth grade teacher in Spartanburg, South Carolina. I teach Language Arts and Social Studies to my homeroom and my partners. My students are very excited to be participating in this election project. We are just completing our study of Ancient Greece where democracy orginated and we are thrilled to be able to exercise the right to vote... (even if it is the "real" thing!)!

My name is Ms. Bowyer, and I teach fifth grade Social Studies in West Virginia. My students and I are very excited about participating in this great project! We are looking forward to all the activities and getting our chance to vote.

WE ARE G/T 2ND GRADERS IN FRISCO, TEXAS. WE ARE EXCITED ABOUT THE ELECTIONS! WE WANT TO LEARN MORE ABOUT THE CANDIDATES RUNNING FOR PRESIDENT. WE ARE EXCITIED TO BE LEARNING WITH OTHER LEARNERS ALL OVER THE UNITED STATES! SMILES AND A BIG HELLO! MRS. GAMBLE'S 2ND GRADERS

Hello All, My name is Ms. Daugherty. I teach in Council Bluffs, Ia. I currently have 5 American Government Classes (one is for college credit). I've been teaching for 32 years all in Council Bluffs.

Greetings from Mrs.Barnes' Class, hailing from the great state of Alaska! I have two students, my kids! We are homeschooling for our 6th year. My children are in Fourth Grade and Fifth Grade. We were a part of the eIditarod and are excited for this new project. Thank you, Walter! Hi everyone-- My 5th graders are very excited about the upcoming election. American History is the topic of our Social Studies year, and we are ready to become a part of it! We are looking forward to communicating with you, and learning the viewpoints of students from around the country. We will also get to vote at the State Capitol this year and see how the kids of Louisiana really feel! Mrs. Kennedy and her 5th grade class

My name is Ms. Josberger. I teach fourth, fifth and sixth grade gifted and talented students in Toms River, New Jersey. These students leave their classroom once a week for eighty minutes to attend my class. I am planning on using this activity with an extracurricular club for fifth and sixth graders. Last spring, we studied the election process and this would continue the study. Looking forward to participating in this program!

Hello Everyone! This is Ms. Williams' 5th grade in Westland, Michigan. Our District has 17 elementary schools, 4 middle schools and 2 high schools. Westland is midway between Detroit and Ann Arbor... a suburban area with lots of shopping, many parks, beautiful summers and long, gray, winters! I have 28 fifth graders who are hard workers and full of enthusiasm for everything! We are hoping to make friends with many of you from across this great nation. I love reading your messages... I think, "Oh, I've been there!" or, "Gosh... I've always wanted to go there!" We're looking forward to sharing photos and bridging the miles.

Hello, My name is Ms. Rogers and I teach 6th grade in Maiden, North Carolina. We are a 6th, 7th and 8th grade school housing approximately 500 students. Maiden is a rural community located about an hour from Charlotte. My students are completing projects and a study of the Olympics and are excited to move into the upcoming elections.

I am a teacher of gifted 6th grade science and 8th grade science and social studies students in Powder Springs, GA. We are in Cobb County just outside Atlanta. We started school a month ago but have not started anything to do with the election yet. We study the state of Georgia but have gotten permission to side track into the election. I will have 42 students involved in this project. Ms. Bisesi

Greetings from Mrs. Rasmussen's class, hailing from the great state of Nebraska! Home to the Nebraska Cornhuskers, the College World Series, tennis sensation Andy Roddick, Omaha Steaks, farming, Ouffit Air Force Base, and the Henry Doorly Zoo, one of the greatest zoos in the nation! We are 5th and 6th gradeers in the "Excellence in Youth" program for high ability and gifted students, and we are looking forward to the excitement of this election year! As they say in Nebraska, "Go Big Red!"

Hi! I'm Ms. Rye and I live in the beautiful upper peninsula of Michigan. I teach 8th grade Social Studies. We are very excited to be involved in this program and hoping to learn a lot about our country and the election process.

Greetings from Mrs. Cheifetz's Class, hailing from the great state of Illinois! We are a class of 25 sixth graders who are very excited and proud to participate in CC2004! This important project will help us learn more about the election process and allow us to share our opinions about the 2004 election. We are located in Lincolnshire, a northern suburb of Chicago. Our school offers the normal curriculum (science, social studies, math, and language arts), as well a variety of creative arts classes (art, drama, foreign language, music, home ec., technology, etc.). Students are not bored due to these options! We learn about character, organization, respect, friendship and responsibility through our advisory program. We look forward to hearing from you!

Hello everyone! I am a K-6 library media specialist in Calico Rock, Arkansas. Our media center theme for the year is "Elect to Discover the Power of Information." For this project, I will be collaboration with our two fourth grade teachers to integrate the study of elections with information literacy skills. We are anxious to get started! Ms. Labert

A big hello from the center of the country! I teach a fourth grade class in Omaha, Nebraska. We are all very excited to start our study of the Presidential election. My students will enjoy seeing the greetings from all of you. Ms. Krings

Hi--I'm Ms. Wilson. I am a 5th grade teacher in Las Vegas, NV, my 5th graders are very excited about this project. I have 35 students in my class so far and all very eager to vote...I teach all subject areas and my students love Social Studies!!!!
Let's get started....

Hello Everyone! My partner and I teach 4th Grade in Annapolis, Maryland. We are hoping to expose our young students to the basics of the U.S. election process, and hopefully encourage them to take some of this knowledge back to their families. I look forward to the project, and hope that we can keep pace with you middle school teachers! Mr. Dietrich

Hello from Ms. Humleker's 8th grade social studies classes in Appleton Wisconsin! My classes are very excited to get involved in this program which empowers them to not only educate themselves but also their peers around them. While school just started last week, I can already sense the enthusiasm and awesome personality of my classes. I am sure that their gifts will be wonderfully challenged and nurtured through the 2004 Cyberconvention! I look forward to working with all of you to make this convention a great educational opportunity for our kids!

Greetings from Fairmont, West Virginia. We are the hometown of the famous gold medalist Mary Lou Retton. I even lived on the same street she grew up on. My name is Ms. Saunders and I teach 5th graders. We are awaiting the new school's completion that will house grades 5-8. I teach my students all subjects except one. Yes, social studies. I am doing the Cyber Convention in our reading class. I am planning a mock election in Nov for the real thing. I am also incorporating the Builder's Club in our school this year, so the elections will be a help. Have a great year.

My name is Mr. Singletary and I teach 7th Grade American History in Denham Springs, Louisiana, a suburb of Baton Rouge. I teach 160 7th grade students. This is half of our 7th grade class. Our school system is the fastest growing in the state of Louisiana. Our school constists of 968 6th through 8th graders.

I am a gifted facilitator in Nebraska. Papillion and LaVista are actually two small towns located on the South Side of Omaha. Each town is around 15,000. We have twelve elementary schools and I facilitate in three of them. All of the 5th and 6th graders in my three buildings will be participating in the project. I am very excited about this project and hope that it will help to produce many well informed future voters. Ms. McCoy

Greetings from Ms. Evers, hailing from the state Oregon, home of the Oregon State University Beavers! I teach grades 4 and 5 in a self-contained classroom outside Newberg, Oregon in the country. We don't start classes until the 13th due to a major remodel of our school that is coming down to the wire for completion. Our first social studies unit is US Geography so this project will fit in well. Looking forward to this project!

Greetings from Ms. Tygard's 5th Grade classroom in Nashville, TN. My students are very excited to begin studying the Presidential elections, with many already having an opinion of who should be victorious. My school currently uses block scheduling in teams of 2. We study American History from the Civil War to current events, making sure we teach government in the process which requires that we review the American Revolution when our country first truly became a democratic republic.

My name is Mr. Socha and I teach a first grade class in Kalamazoo, Michigan. There are currently 21 students in my class who are participating in this project. Our school is focusing on Social Studies and the Core Democratic Values this year so NCC 2004 fits right in with that theme. We look forward to giving a younger perspective to the vote!

Greetings from South Carolina! We are a 4th grade "Gifted and Talented" class of 22 in North Augusta, South Carolina. We will begin our 5th week of school after Labor Day, so we are primed with our research skills and ready to go! South Carolina is known to be a "republican" state, but we are going to make a great effort to approach the projects in an open and unbiased way. Ms. Wilkes

Hi, I am Ms. Morgan teaching 6th grade Math to 75 students in Fairmont, West Virginia. I am teaming with a 6th grade Social Studies and English teacher to complete this project. We started school August 26th and our students seem to be excited to begin this project. We are holding our own elections now for Student Council officers and students are working on their own speeches.

Hello from Wisconsin where the TVs buzz day and night with competing ads . I'm another self-contained looping teacher with a new crop of 4th graders going into our third day of school on Tuesday. I'm excited about the lessons that can be learned watching and participating in a get out the vote for the presidential election. As I told parents in our orientation on 9/1, last time we did this four years ago the unit was considerably longer than I expected as the recount stretched on endlessly. Cottage Grove is a village which is fast becoming a suburb of Madison, our state capital. We have a number of local primaries coming up, and there should be some spirited local races to study as well. I usually coordinate the Wisconsin KidsVote at our school (400 students - Grades 3-5) where each room elects delegates who coordinate and manage the League of Women Voters' mock election. Looking forward to connecting on this project!

Hello! My name is Tara Kuty and I live in Tully, New York. It is a rural community in upstate NY. I am a sixth grade social studies teacher to about 60 students. We look forward to the learning experience of this election. Looking forward to taking part in this project!

Our school in Elk Grove, Illinois is offering all social studies students to take part in the National Cyberconvention. My six classes of almost 200 students in 8th grade have started talking about campaign issues and are looking at political cartoons in newspapers and interpreting them. I am very please to be part of the NCC. Looking forward to meeting all of you! We are also holding an all school election for our 630 students under the leadership of our student council. Ms. Gerson

I teach science and social studies to 75 sixth grade students in Hickory, North Carolina. My students and I are excited about participating in this awesome educational project. Ms. Miller

Hi, I am an Integration Specialist in a K-5 school in Grand Island, Nebraska. This means I am media specialist, computer specailist, and gifted coordinator and instructor. I will be working with the fifth grade social studies teacher to integrate a study of the elections, along with working on extensions of the topic with my gifted students. I am excited to begin this awesome experience with the students. Ms. Stelk

Hi! I'm Ms. Olberding, teaching all subjects to fourteen 7th & 8th graders in Ord, Nebraska. We are in central Nebraska in the Sandhills region. We are looking forward to this participation. We have been in school since Aug. 18th and have watched the Republican convention. (Unfortunately the Democratic convention occurred before school began). The students are now paying attention to the candidates and the party platforms. In currently studying a chapter on propaganda and public opinion, they are keeping their eye out for these techniques throughout the campaign. We will look forward to the interaction in this Cyberconvention.

We are a 5th grade "Looping" class in Conover, North Carolina. This means we were together last year s 4th graders. We are called the "Shining Stars" and are excited about participating in this project.
We are proud to claim John Edwards as a fellow "Tarheel".

Hello - My name is Ms. Procida I am also from Northern New Jersey (Bergen County). My 100 5th graders study World Geography and I have one class of 22 6th graders who study Ancient Civilizations. Elections are not specifically in either curriculum so I am trying to creative about working this in. Any help in this area from others in a similar boat would be appreciated. We start Tuesday. At this point I am planning on utilizing current event section to do some of the activities.

My name is Mr. Sheremeta and I teach 7th Grade Civics in Newport News, Virginia. I have approximately 110 7th grader's who will begin the school year this Tuesday, by studying Political Parties and campaigns. We lucked out and convinced the District to move this unit to the first 9 weeks rather than the traditional 3rd nine week segment of our school year.... I look forward to providing my students with a great hands on learning experience to tie their knowledge together.

Hi, We are fifth graders in West Bloomfield, Michigan. In fifth grade we study the Revolutionary War, and creating a new nation. It will be great to see if our presidential election today was like the election of George Washington. We will look forward to working with classes from all over the United States, as we complete our educational journey to election day. Thanks for all your help and information Mrs. Kibiloski's 5th Grade Class

Greetings from Miss Johansen's fifth grade class, hailing from the great state of Texas! We are in Friendswood, which is just south of Houston. Friendswood is the home of many NASA astronauts and engineers. Our community is predominantly Republican; we'll see if that plays out in our classroom as well.

Greetings from Mr. Derry, hailing from the great state of Connecticut, home of Yale University, which President Bush and John Kerry attended. I am the Library Media Specialist for our school in Westport, Connecticut. I am participating with five 5th grade teachers and their classes: Ms. Blaschke, Mrs. Bourque, Mr. Livingston, Ms. Lukovits, and Mrs. Parker. We are eager to participate in this interactive cyberconvention with students and teachers from most of the states in the U.S. and look forward to learning more about the process of electing a president!

Greetings from Ms. DeCarlo's fourth grade class, hailing from the great state of New York, whose capital is Albany. Our school is located in Scotia, part of the capital region. All 25 of us are excited to participate in the CyberConvention!

Greetings from Ms. Herber's 6th grade social studies classes in the great state of Texas! We are located just north of Austin. About 170 students will be participating in the CyberConvention. 6th grade curriculum focuses on world cultures, but the district also wants us to cover the election process. CyberConvention will help us to do that. We are excited!

Greetings from Port Gibson, Mississippi! We are delighted to be a part of such a well organized group.
We are looking forward to our first activity. Ms. Sherman Semi~Self-Contained Teacher

Greetings and hello from Ms. Caldroney's and Ms. Finney's 8th grade classes in Versailles, Kentucky. We are all very excited about this project.

Greetings from the great state of West Virginia . The students of Kennetha Howes's class are excited to be delegates at the CyberConvention.We are a class of third, fourth and fifth graders in a multiage classroom learning about the democratic process! We are proud West Virginians from the mountains with a state park that borders our school. We have free flowing streams with trout and in the spring a tasty plant delicacy from the forest called ramps.

Greetings from Mrs. Wilkes' 3rd/4th grade Gifted and Talented Classes, hailing from the great state of South Carolina! We are located in Edgefield County, which is at the heart of the peach industry, home to 10 Govenors, as well as the late Senator Strom Thurmond.

Greetings from Portland, Oregon! My name is Ms. Silvestri and I teach 6th, 7th, and 8th graders in a mutli-age classroom. At my students' request, I will be teaching a class about the upcoming election. School starts next week, so my students do not yet know about this wonderful cyper-opportunity. They will be extremely excited! I look forward to hearing from all the beautiful students from around the country. It should be fun for all of us!

Greetings from Mrs. McDowell's class, hailing from the great state of Texas. We've been back in school for almost a month already! I teach 6th grade social studies and we study World Cultures and look at 6 continents. We begin with North America and this project will fit in wonderfully. The students are bringing in political cartoon and enjoying discussing them. We have a bullentin board where we post them. We're very excited about participating in the Cyber Convention!

Hello fellow cyber friends: My name is Mr. Anderson. I teach government to 14 students at Haviland High School, in the Jayhawk state of Kansas. I am looking forward to the election in November and participating in this project.

Greetings! I teach 4th grade in Nixa, Missouri. Nixa is just south of Springfield. I have 23
students who will be learning lots about government and the election process this year. Ms. Fessenden

Hello, Ms. Harrington from the great state of Massachusetts. I teach grade 5 in Salem. Salem is a well known city about 20 miles north of Boston. It may be best known for the witch trials of 1692, however we are also very well known for our maritime history, involvement in the Revolutionary War, and most recently for the world renowned Peabody Essex Museum. Our school is actually named for a housing development that it is part of and not what else you might think. My students are very interested in the election and hope to get ideas from all of you. Thanks!

Greetings from Walled Lake, Michigan I teach at Walled Lake Western High School. We are part of a fairly large district northwest of Detroit. The district includes 14 elementary schools, 4 middle schools, 3 high schools plus 1 alternative high school. We are a diverse district with students from lots of different ethnic backgrounds. I teach government, practical law, and sociology. We are excited to take part in this program and to learn about and participate in the election. Ms. Secrest

We are Mrs. Kane’s 5th Grade classes here in Leander, Texas (just North of Austin, our state’s capital). We are between the ages of 9 and 12. Mrs. Kane has two classes, both with 29 students in them. In 5th Grade, we learn about US History—we just started a section about the 13 colonies. This year, we are participating in two big class projects—our first one is this one. We are going to hold an election at our school and register the students to vote. Our classes are in charge of picking up paper recycling for the whole school every Thursday. It’s a pretty big job, but we really like it! This election project will be another way to provide a community service to the rest of the students at our school because we will be campaigning for the different candidates and maybe even holding a debate! We are excited about our project!

Hi from Mrs. Wiekierak's 5th grade enrichment class! We are located north of Albany at the foot of the Adirondack Mountains in NY and we are very excited to be a part of the 2004 National CyberConvention!

Hi All From the Great State of Florida, We are a Fifth Grade Class consisting of 128 students in Fort Lauderdale, Florida. As I am sure you are all aware of we just went through a hurricane and that is why this introduction is late. Our school is a private school connected to Nova Southeastern Univ. Nova is the tenth largest private university in the country. We also have the Dolphin Training Camp on our campus. We are looking forward to joining you in this wonderful project.
Sincerely, Mrs. Bolinger’s Fifth Grade

Greetings from the great state of Alabama and Mrs. Mill's fifth grade students. We are looking forward to being part of history as we become involved in "Election 2004" and learn more about the electoral process.

Greetings from Mr. Seitz’s Fifth Grade hailing from the great state of Pennsylvania , the Keystone State . Our school is one of the smallest in Pennsylvania . There will be forty-six fifth graders participating. This project will be the main focus of my current events lessons on Fridays. My classes are excited about participating.

Greetings from Mrs. Mora's 7th grade Social Studies class, hailing from the Big Sky State - Montana. We are looking forward to learning about the candidates as well as participating in the mock election at the end.

Greetings from Mrs. Bramble's Class, hailing from the great state of New Jersey. The Garden State is the home of the Miss America Pagent and also the state with the most diners. We are eighth grade students and would like pen pals from another state participating in the project. Everyone is excited about the election and the fun we will have participating in the program. We would also like to video conference with other classes. Please contact us if you are interested.

Hello from New Jersey the Garden State, home of the Jersy Devils and the best fresh tomatoes you've ever tasted. We are located in Brick near some of the best beaches on the east coast. We are Mrs.Carey's 4th grade Social Studies class. You will be hearing from the other classes (5,6,7, and 8) as the weeks progress. We are happy to be a part of this project. Sorry this is late. We had a late start!

Greetings to all from Thornton, Colorado. My name is Mr. D'Lallo and I am a 9-12 grade social studies teacher. We are an alternative high school and work with at-risk youth. Our class is studying the foundations of American Government and the current elections.

Greetings from The Wabash Valley and the hometown of Red Skelton, Vincennes, Indiana. My 5th grade social studies classes are anxious to join all of you as we join hands across this great land to elect a man who will lead us during the next 4 years. Our basic understanding of government is in place and we begin the study of our election process. Ms. Lettshagen

Hello from the great state of Texas! Ms. Herber's 6th grade social studies students from Cedar Park, Texas say hello. I teach 170 students just north of Austin. Our curriculum focuses on world cultures. We are also studying our national election process. We are excited about participating in the Cyber Convention!

Greetings everyone, first of all I apologize greatly for my late introduction. My name is Mr. Acri and I am an eighth grade social studies teacher in Milford, Connecticut and my students are very interested in the 2004 election.

Hello to all from North Carolina! I am Ms. DeWire and I teach
a group of totally awesome 5th grade students. We are enjoying this adventure!

Greetings from Mrs.Blubaum’s Class, hailing from the great state of Indiana. We are in the fourth grade and have 19 students in our class. Our school was named after Francis Vigo because he gave money to George Rogers Clark to help his efforts in the Revolutionary War. We live in a rural area in southern Indiana. We have several historical sites in our town and Vincennes University. VU is Indiana's first college and is one of the oldest in America. We like doing different things and we like having fun. We also are good spellers and love to do math! We are looking forward to learning about the election process. We would be interested in being email pen pals with a class from a different geographic location.

Greetings from the Great State of Florida. I am Mrs. Bolinger, and I teach Social Studies to five wonderful groups of fifth graders at University School of Nova Southeastern University. We are all very excited to be particpating in such an exciting and innovative project.

Hi Everyone greetings from Burlington, MA - home of Amy Poehler, Saturday Night Live - Steven Wright, comedian - 4 Olympians Winter 1984, Peter and Kitty Carruthers (pairs skating), Scott and Mark Fusco (hockey) - Steven Strahan, NFL Oakland Raiders - National Champions, Pop Warner Cheerleaders. Kathie Tsoukalas and I teach approximately 300 7th graders in a lab setting twice a week. Not the best setting for this project, but we'll modify and do the best we can. We're looking forward to the project. Ms. Reber

Greetings from the beautiful Garden State . We are in Brick New Jersey and we are enjoying an Atlantic Ocean breeze as we continue with our activities on the cyber convention. The fifth grade Social Studies classes discussed how a state attains electoral votes. The class was given a map of the United States noting the number of electoral votes each state enjoys. We also noted changes in these numbers since the last census. As an enrichment activity correlating this lesson with Math, the children were given calculators and asked to tally popular votes versus electoral votes for two hypothetical candidates. In this way, the children could clearly see that a candidate could receive a plurality in the popular vote and lose the election because their opponent had more electoral votes. Our fourth grade classes conducted a poll last week. The results showed that, if this were an actual election President Bush would be declared the winner of New Jersey ’s electoral votes. Our students are enjoying this unit on the 2004 election. It has sparked their interest in how our government functions.
Ms. Lardieri

Greetings from Mr. Griffing's 4th and 5th grade class at the Saltonstall School in Salem, Massachusetts. Our city is nicknamed The Witch City. Our school is named after the great U.S. Senator and Massachusettes Governor, Leverett Saltonstall. We are one of the few elementary schools to have a marching band. We look forward to taking part in the CyberConvention.

Hello, I am a fourth grade teacher in Leander ISD. We are located north of Austin the State Capitol. My students and I are so excited to join in this learning experience. We elected delegation officers so that we could better utilize our class time as well as time out of school to learn about and share the wealth of knowledge available to us about past and upcoming elections. Looking forward to working on the project. Ms. Ward