On November 7, 160 students representing 34 schools from Berlin (18), Brandenburg (9), Saxony (4), Saxony Anhalt (1) Niedersachsen (1), and Mecklenburg-Vorpommern (1) declared their election forecasts for the 2016 U.S. presidential elections. Ambassador Emerson discussed the students' results together with Bill Chandler at the Friedrich Ebert Foundation in Berlin.
At the same time, another group of participants from North Rhine-Westphalia met at the NRW Schulministerium in Düsseldorf together with Consul General Michael R. Keller and Schulministerin Sylvia Löhrmann.
This is the project outcome produced by our participants:
Created with the CNN Electoral College Map Maker.
This year, our participants' prediction did not turn out correct. Here are the actual election results from November 8, 2016. Republican candidate Donald Trump won with 279 to 228 electoral college votes over Democratic candidate Hillary Clinton.
Screenshot from The New York Times.
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 ten categories plus five transatlantic cooperation awards for outstanding efforts to facilitate transatlantic cooperation within the project.
Best Campaign Video:
Washington State Goes Blue
Sebastian-Münster-Gymnasium Ingelheim (Rhl.-Pf.)
Best Newspaper:
The Salem General in Oregon
BSZ Schwarzenberg (Sachsen)
Best Collage:
Hillary vs. Donald – Who will strengthen the American economy?
Humboldtschule Bad Homburg (Hessen)
Best Creative Video:
Hillarylarious!
Max-Planck-Gymnasium Gelsenkirchen (Nordrhein-Westfalen)
Best Poster:
8 Reasons Why Wyoming Will Vote Republican
Herder-Gymnasium Berlin
Best Creative Song:
Rhode Island Rap
Katholische Schule Salvator Berlin
Best Website:
Presidential Election in Missouri
Friderico-Francisceum Bad Doberan (Mecklenburg-Vorpommern)
Best Educational Video:
U.S. Embassy School Election Project: Washington
Mataré-Gymnasium Meerbusch (Nordrhein-Westfalen)
Best Blog:
My Life in Pennsylvania
Mons-Tabor Gymnasium Montabaur (Rheinland-Pfalz)
Most Creative Contribution:
Get Votes – The Game
Friderico-Francisceum Bad Doberan (Mecklenburg-Vorpommern)
Transatlantic Award
It is with great pride and pleasure that the Teach About US team awards a transatlantic cooperation prize to five 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.
The Teach About US team would like to recognize for their achievements for transatlantic understanding:
- Oranienburg/Washington, MO: Jens Rösener with his class at Louise-Henriette-Gymnasium, Oranienburg, and Allison Graves and her students at Washington High School in Washington, Missouri;
- Gransee/Clemmons, NC: Heike Grützmacher and students at Strittmatter-Gymnasium in Gransee together with Amber Alford and students at West Forsyth High School in Clemmons, North Carolina;
- Berlin/Fayetteville, AR: Christina Kurzmann and her class at Goethe Gymnasium Lichterfelde in Berlin, together with Amber Pinter at Fayetteville High School in Fayetteville Arkansas, who have been maintaining their school partnership for 30 years now;
- Soest/Bloomington, MN: Dr. Markus Schröder with his class at Hubertus-Schwartz-Berufskolleg in Soest, and their U.S. partner Brian Trusinsky and his class at Thomas Jefferson Senior High School in Bloomington, Minnesota;
- Sprockhövel/Oronoko Township, MI: Martina Westermann and her students at Wilhelm-Kraft-Gesamtschule des Ennepe-Ruhr-Kreises in Sprockhövel, who collaborated with John Vitek and his class at Berrien Springs High School in Oronoko Township, Michigan.
Congratulations again to all winners!
Take a look at some impressions from the concluding events that took place a day before the elections in Berlin and Düsseldorf:
Berlin, Nov. 7, 2016 at the Friedrich-Ebert-Stiftung
Düsseldorf, Nov. 7, 2016 at the Schulministerium NRW
Summary of Press and media coverage
The project was also featured in a number of regional and national media reports.
ZDF 02.11.2016
US-Wahl als Schulprojekt: Schüler lernen über Swing States und das amerikanische Wahlsystem
Lüneburger Landeszeitung 03.11.2016
Schüler sagen Ergebnis der US-Wahl voraus
Berliner Zeitung 07.11.2016
Schulprojekt: Hillary siegt mit großem Vorsprung
Leuphana Universität Lüneburg 07.11.2016
Trump oder Clinton - Können deutsche Schüler wirklich das Ergebnis der US-Wahl vorhersagen?
Der Tagesspiegel 07.11.2016
Schülerprognose zur US-Wahl: Clinton gewinnt
Siegerland Kurier 08.11.2016
Clinton oder Trump - Gymnasium Stift Keppel Hilchenbach nahm am „U.S. Election Project“ teil
WAZ 08.11.2016
US-Wahl: Stift Keppel tippt auf Clinton
Märkische Online Zeitung 08.11.2016
Schüler würden Clinton wählen
Märkische Allgemeine Zeitung 09.11.2016
Gymnasiasten zur US-Wahlnacht im ZDF-Studio
Soester Anzeiger 09.11.2016
"Jetzt geht die Welt unter"
Münster Journal 10.11.2016
„Annette-Gymnasium“ stellt Analyse der „US-Wahl“ in Düsseldorf vor
Marilena Peters has been pursuing her B.A. in teaching Social Studies with a geographical focus and English as a Foreign Language at Leuphana University Lüneburg since 2015. After finishing her studies with a Master’s degree, Marilena intends to teach at an elementary school.
The US Embassy School Election project attracted over 1,500 participants 2012 and more than 3,000 participants in 2016, including students in over 40 courses in the U.S. German students adopted one U.S. state and became its virtual citizens, reviewed local and social media critically and evaluated the political debates in the weeks leading to the presidential elections. Many German students reached out to their U.S. partners to learn first-hand how the election campaign was perceived by U.S. citizens in urbans centers and rural regions alike. They predicted the election outcome in their state. In 2012, these students' predictions were more accurate than many nationally broadcast polls. Four years later, as most pundits and pollsters failed to predict the stunning electoral college win by the Republican party's candidate Donald J. Trump, our German students didn't have a crystal-ball either.
The U.S. Embassy School Election Project was awarded the renowned Hans-Eberhard-Piepho Prize for Ideas in Communicative Language Teaching in 2013.
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