About the U.S. Election Project

2020 RESULTS

Berlin/Lüneburg. More than 5,000 German and American students already know the outcome of the U.S. elections: Joe Biden is going to be the 46th President of the United States of America. At today's online closing event for the U.S. Embassy School Election Project 2020, students will give their predictions for the election outcome state by state. Biden will receive 334 electoral votes while Donald Trump is projected to only receive 204 of the 538 electoral votes. Joannis Kaliampos and Professor Torben Schmidt of the Institute of English Studies at Leuphana University Lüneburg co-developed the course content and learning design of the project. The nationwide school project was initiated by the U.S. Embassy.

Since the school year began, students in participating classrooms have dealt with the election in their English courses. Each participating class was assigned a U.S. state. The task was to determine the outcome of the election for 'their' state by examining the respective social issues and the candidates' statements. Their forecasts have been correct before and in previous years predicted the election outcome more accurately than many political polls in the USA or Germany.

This year, 195 courses submitted a forecast for their state shortly before the election, with each state being covered by multiple classes. The forecasts are not always unanimous, but a majority decision could be determined for each state. The students predicted Biden would win several key states, including Wisconsin, Pennsylvania, and Florida, all of which Trump carried in 2016.

The U.S. Embassy School Election Project 2020 is a continuation of precursors organized by the U.S. Embassy Berlin for the 2008, 2012, and 2016 presidential elections. The innovative project curriculum was developed by a project team from the U.S. Embassy, the Berlin-based educational non-profit LIFE e.V., and the Institute of English Studies at Leuphana University Lüneburg. With the support of the Transatlantic Outreach Program at the Goethe-Institut in Washington D.C., it was possible to network school classes with American partner schools and thus enable a direct transatlantic exchange of information in the election project.

This is the project outcome produced by our participants:

Click the map to create your own at 270toWin.com

As part of the U.S. Election Project, participants submitted learner products in a competition for creative project outcomes. Below are the winning student contributions. Awards were given in sixteen categories plus seven transatlantic cooperation awards for outstanding efforts to facilitate transatlantic cooperation within the project.

Best Campaign Website

ARKANSAS FOR TRUMP!

Integrierte Gesamtschule (Mutterstadt)

ARKANSAS FOR TRUMP

Best News Report

WHO HAWAII WILL VOTE FOR AND HaWHY!

Gymnasium Blankenese (Hamburg)

HAWAII VIDEO

Best Breaking News

IDAHO WILL VOTE FOR TRUMP - BREAKING NEWS

Gymnasium Herderschule (Lüneburg)

IDAHO VIDEO

Best Cartoon

4 MORE YEARS - KANSAS WILL VOTE FOR TRUMP

Landschulheim Schloss (Ising am Chiemsee)

BEST CARTOON

Best Graphic Story

TONIGHT EVEN SHOW: PREDICTION MASSACHUSETTS

Elisabeth Gymnasium (Halle/Saale)

BEST GRAPHIC STORY

Best Research Presentation

MINNESOTA PROGNOSIS

Gymnasium Herderschule (Lüneburg)

BEST RESEARCHED PRESENTATION

Best Website

MINNESOTA STAYS BLUE

Friedrich - Ebert - Gymnasium (Hamburg)

BEST WEBSITE

Best Campaign Video

BIDEN - A THREAT TO NORTH DAKOTA

Johann-Wolfgang-von-Goethe-Gymnasium (Chemnitz)

BEST CAMPAIGN VIDEO

Best Campaign Flyer

OHIO DEMOCRATS - GENERAL ELECTION 2020

Paul-Gerhardt-Gymnasium (Graefenhainichen)

BEST CAMPAIGN FLYER

Best Election Magazine

ELECTIONS 2020: THE BATTLE

Askanisches Gymnasium (Berlin)

BEST ELECTION MAGAZINE

Best Multimedia Newspaper

THE SALT LAKE HERALD

Berlin-Kolleg, Berlin

BEST MULTIMEDIA NEWSPAPER

Best Explained Prediction

WILL VIRGINIA GO RED OR BLUE?

Berufsbildungszentrum Schleswig (Schleswig)

BEST EXPLAINED PREDICTION

Best Junior Pollsters

WASHINGTON STATE - JOINT PRESENTATION OAK HARBOR / BÖNEN

North Whidbey Middle School (Oak Harbor, WA) and Marie-Curie Gymnasium (Bönen)

BEST JUNIOR POLLSTERS

Best Transatlantic Joint Presentation

ELECTION 2020

Downingtown High School East Campus (Exton, PA) and Markgräfler Gymnasium (Müllheim)

BEST TRANSATLANTIC JOINT PRESENTATION

Best Social Media Presentation

PREDICTING THE VOTE IN MAINE

Gustav-Heinemann-Oberschule (Berlin)

BEST SOCIAL MEDIA PREDICTION

Best Talk Show

OTTO- SCHOTT TALK SHOW WITH OLIVIA SMITH

Otto-Schott-Gymnasium (Mainz)

BEST TALK SHOW

Transatlantic Cooperation Awards

It is with great pride and pleasure that the Teach About US team, together with our friends at the Transatlantic Outreach Program / Goethe Institut Washington, D.C., awards a transatlantic cooperation prize to seven of our German-American tandems, who share the fact that students and teachers alike have done a tremendous job making the election project a truly binational encounter.

Marie-Curie-Gymnasium Bönen and North Whidbey Middle School, Oak Harbor, WA, with teachers Karsten Brill and Donald Jenkins

Gymnasium Herderschule, Lüneburg and Albert Lea High School, Albert Lea, MN, with teachers Christian Knappe and Jim Haney

Pestalozzi-Oberschule, Limbach-Oberfrohna and Stonington Middle School, Mystic, CT, with teachers Heike Bachmann and Tim Flanagan

Otto-Schott-Gymnasium, Mainz and Belleville East High School, Belleville, IL, with teachers Dr. Ute Ritzenhofen and Andy Gaa

Louise-Henriette-Gymnasium, Oranienburg and Ozark High School, Ozark, AR, with teachers Jessica Culver, Gritt Gebauer, Thorsten Dietze, Jens Rösener, and Steffen Tilgner

Markgräfler Gymnasium, Müllheim and Downingtown High School East Campus, Exton, PA, with teachers Nadine Gebhard, Verena Gloeser, and Ellen Resnek

Philipp Melanchthon Gymnasium, Meine, and Monacan High School, North Chesterfield, VA, with teachers Nina Christmann and Valerie Sweet

Summary of press and media coverage

The project was also featured in a number of regional and national media reports.

Freie Presse Chemnitz 12.11.2020

Not online

ZDF heute - in Deutschland and in the Sondersendung 03.11.2020

US-Wahl ist Thema im Unterricht: Wer wird der nächste Präsident der Vereinigten Staaten? MCG-Schüler erstelle Prognosen (Not online)

American Studies Blog: Leuphana Universität 02.11.2020