For senior Sophia Garceau, it was nerve racking stepping into the gym on election day. She grabbed her name tag off the table, got sworn in, and stepped into the hot, crowded area. She made her way to a small table littered with ballots, and grabbed one. Then, she fought her way through the thick crowds to get to the correct line.
On November 5th, election day was upon the U.S. At Bartlett elementary, senior Sophia Garceau was helping process the absentee ballots. Those are ballots completed and submitted in advance by voters who can’t be at the polls. Sophia was volunteering because she’s a part of the Rho Kappa National Honor Society here at GHS. Members who were at least 17 were able to step into the voting room and participate in this job. Sophia couldn’t just show up though, Rho Kappa members had to be trained by town clerk Cathy Ball. Participants also had to fill out forms to give to the town hall. Sophia worked from 10am to 1pm. Her job was to get the ballots from other election workers, find the person’s name on the list, and slide it into a big black machine.
According to Sophia, she was nervous about the job but once she arrived, it wasn’t so bad. “I was a bit concerned it would be more difficult than it was, but the people there were great and it was easy.” This opportunity allowed Rho Kappa members to learn more about the election process “It’s more in depth than I originally thought. There’s a lot of checking to make sure it’s done the right way. I even had to get sworn in,” said Sophia. Sophia also said there was food for the election workers for after their shifts. They had pastries, raviolis, salads, and so much more.
Social studies teacher Andrew Pyszka shared some information regarding Rho Kappa, and this volunteer process. Mr. Pyszka founded Rho Kappa here at GHS during the hybrid year of the pandemic. Out of every activity Rho Kappa has done, this is his favorite. A total of 36 members participated in helping out at the election. Students were scattered into several different locations: Goffstown High, New Boston Central, and Bartlett Elementary. Only students 17 and older could process the absentee ballots like Sophia, so there were other jobs for younger students to do. Some members helped set up the day before, others greeted people at the doors, and other people helped with the breakdown at the end of the night. Although this was a volunteer event, students had to be paid minimum wage because it’s a way to ensure people are protected by insurance if something happens.
This volunteer opportunity involved much planning in advance. Mr. Pyszka had help from Rho Kappa president Claire LaRoche. “Claire did so much of the work. She was really dedicated,” said Pyszka. Pyszka had originally started setting this volunteer event up in August. He and Claire did lots of back and forth about who was going to do what and it took lots of time. This event was a success and Rho Kappa will only continue to get its members more civically engaged in the future. According to Pyszka, “I love what I’m doing and I wanted to celebrate success in social studies.”
