The gathering at Big Lou’s Pizza had the makings of a classic high school pizza party: teen boys and girls sat on opposite ends of a long table chatting about an upcoming football game, checking Snapchat and TikTok on their phones, and sharing cheesy slices.
But every few minutes their faces turned stoic as they looked up at screens displaying election night results on CNN, Fox News, MSNBC, and Newsmax.
The students attend Highlands High School, about three miles up the road from the pizzeria, and are in Noah Lipman’s AP U.S. Government and Politics class.
To help bring the electoral process and class lessons to life, Lipman has invited students to a local establishment in presidential and mid-term election years since 2016 to view results alongside local residents. Earlier in the day, Lipman brought them to speak with workers manning the polling site at their school about how voting machines work and ballot security.
The course requires instruction on political participation in the United States, including presidential elections and related quirks like primaries, the Electoral College, and the race to 270 votes. There’s also a focus on how news media informs voters.
Witnessing election returns with friends and community members offered the class a chance to learn some of those lessons in real time. And Lipman hoped it would contribute to the civic engagement he wants to foster in his students, some of whom voted for the first time this year.
On Tuesday night, students eagerly participated in the tradition. But they were also cognizant that it would be the last of its kind: This is Lipman’s last year at Highlands High School—he’ll continue working with the College Board, the organization responsible for the AP program, and in higher education—so the future of the election night gathering is in question.
“In four years when you’re in college, are you going to host an election watch party?” Lipman asked his students at the pizzeria Tuesday night.
“Will you be there?” asked Kaden Bryant, 17, hoping for a yes.
Students get an election lesson in real time
As results started to come in, Lipman told his students what they should be looking for, especially in key states.
As networks showed results from individual counties, some students wondered why it mattered to see those local results.
“The key here is to follow the county this year as it compares to numbers in the last four years,” Lipman explained.
Others wondered early on why Vice President Kamala Harris was so far behind in the electoral vote count. Several of the states whose polls had closed earliest—and whose outcomes were easiest to project—trended Republican.
“Harris was winning the polls but look, she’s got no [electoral college] votes,” said Isaiah Galindo, 17, pointing to CNN’s tracker.
“That’s because they haven’t gone north and west yet,” responded Gian Walker, 17.
An especially polarized electorate made for a unique teaching year
Presidential elections all have their memorable moments, cultural impact, and historic purpose.
For the 2024 cycle, Lipman noted a distinct cultural landscape: this time, he had to devote more time than in prior elections to explaining the ramifications of an increasingly divided electorate, and a rise of misinformation across social media platforms and even some mainstream media channels.
The polarized atmosphere is partly why a national EdWeek Research Center survey of educators this summer found that most teachers were opting not to address the election in class this fall. While a majority of teachers said it was unrelated to their subject area, about a fifth of teachers said talking about the election in class could lead to parent complaints, and that they didn’t think students could discuss the topic respectfully.
While the 2024 election cycle will not be on the AP government exam this May, Lipman and several fellow AP teachers spoke to Education Week earlier this year on the importance of teaching the election and how to do so in a civil manner.
Students appreciated instruction geared at civic engagement
The room in the pizzeria where Lipman’s students gathered exploded into a chorus of “woah’s” when screens showed Trump and Harris tied at 49.2 percent of the popular vote.
Lipman explained how a two-point margin held by Democratic Sen. Bob Casey of Pennsylvania could be a good sign for Harris.
But that was early in the night. By early Wednesday morning, tallies showed both Casey and Harris behind in the Keystone State and Trump had pulled ahead in the national popular vote tally.
Students commented on how confusing it was at times to see different TV networks displaying different results for the same states.
But the stronger sentiment the students echoed throughout the night was one of gratitude for being able to share this moment with classmates over food, even when they differed in political views.
“I think more teachers should do this, and more classes should look into doing something like that,” Gian said. “I actually think it should also be funded and encouraged by schools.”
Students also said they were grateful to learn so much historic context in class that helped them better navigate election night.
“There’s so much more than just people making laws,” said Joshua Tijerina, 18, a senior in Lipman’s class. “There’s branches, there’s levels. It’s just, it’s so much.”
The concept of divided government is something Lipman felt the need to focus on more this year. He helped students understand that, regardless of who won the presidential election, the president’s power would be diluted if the opposing party controlled the House of Representatives or Senate.
“Either side that wins the election is adamant that the other side is completely wrong. And so therefore, if one side can stop the other, we might have a polarized situation where not a lot is being enacted,” Lipman said.
(As Trump returns to the White House, he’ll have a Republican Senate, but control of the House still hadn’t been decided Wednesday morning.)
Students this year have asked questions about false claims about mass voter fraud and the purpose of the Electoral College in modern elections.
“Ever since 2020, the fraudulent voting stuff has been raised consistently, and that’s been a problem, because students, not being fully aware of the certification process, not understanding how many state representatives, secretaries of state have consistently said the voting is 100 percent protected, they then see stuff on social media and immediately assume that the voting has been hacked into in some way,” Lipman said.
As for the Electoral College, Lipman explained in class why the Founding Fathers established it: the Constitution’s framers were wary of allowing a popular vote for president, and instead originally allowed state legislatures to determine how their states’ electors would be chosen. (Voting back then was restricted to white males who owned property, and slave-holding states could count slaves as three-fifths of a person for purposes of congressional and Electoral College representation.)
“That process itself seems a little outdated to a lot of the students, but nevertheless, that is the process that they have to learn,” Lipman said.
An election to remember, even if not for a test
The high schoolers closed out Big Lou’s about a half hour after the pizzeria’s official closing time.
The mood of the night echoed its start: laughter and smiles mixed with tense expressions when facing the TV screens.
The presidential race was still too close to call. But Lipman reminded the students of one certainty.
“I’ll see you tomorrow,” he said. “Yes, work is still due.”
