Once every 4 years, registered voters pick the next President of the United States of America through a system called the Electoral College. What is the Electoral College, how does it work, and why do we elect the President this way?

In the Spring of 2016, CUP collaborated with Teaching Artist Nicholas Weltyk and Brian Gilman’s English class at the Brooklyn Community Arts and Media High School to identify who decides who the next U.S. President will be.

To investigate, students participated in a mock election, went into the neighborhood to survey community members about the Presidential voting process, and interviewed Amanda Melillo of the Campaign Finance Board. This booklet is a guide to what they discovered.

Get your own booklet here!

What People are Saying

“This experience was a great way to gather information about a topic instead of just reading a textbook. We got to leave the classroom and go into the community to interview people. I learned that people can be resources of information too.” – Nyaisha Pierre, student

“The project was more fun than our regular classroom since it felt like a team effort. If I was nervous about interviewing or felt like I didn’t have the best drawing skills, there was always someone there to support me to get the work done. We were in it together.” – Dannikque Francis, student

CUP brings a more creative way to explore important current events. The students were engaged, learned a lot in a short amount of time, and loved working with artists on the project.” – Brian Gilman, classroom teacher

Resources & Links

Brooklyn Community Arts and Media High School is a public school in Bedford Stuyvesant with an art, media, and technology-enriched academic curriculum that emphasizes community collaboration.

Funding Support

Support for this project was provided by the Bay and Paul Foundations, the New York State Council on the Arts with the support of Governor Andrew M. Cuomo and the New York State Legislature, and the New York City Department of Cultural Affairs in partnership with the City Council.

Special Thanks

Amanda Melillo, Katrina Shakarian, Margaux Lacroix

Participants

  • CUP
  • Teaching Artist
  • Nicholas Weltyk
  • Project Lead
  • Jenn Anne Williams
  • Project Support
  • Christy Herbes
  • Brooklyn Community Arts and Media High School 
  • Students
  • Brittney Diaz

    Jauon Footman Mejias

    Dannikque Francis

    Armani Gauze

    Delilah Gay

    Nasira George

    Lamont Gripper

    Marco Hernandez

    Paul Jackson

    Donshe Lacaille

    Lawrence Mckinney

    Nyaisha Pierre

    Mercedes Plowden

    Curtis Richardson

    Kristina Sabino

    Shania Trader

    Ariel Wynn

    Ruby Xelo

  • Classroom Teacher
  • Brian Gilman