Wendell Elementary allows each and every one of its students to participate in Kids Voting, which was held at the school a few weeks ago.

Of course, all the students are far from the legal voting age, so their votes couldn't possibly count toward the actual election, but that didn't stop them from voicing their opinions. I had the opportunity to participate that day and helped the children fill in their bubbles and submit their ballots.

Kindergartners and first-graders were able to vote for the president of the United States, choose among Elizabeth Dole, Kay Hagan and Christopher Cole for Senate and then cast their votes for the student council elections. Most of the students in these grade levels picked whoever they liked the look of or who their parent's were going to vote for. The student council votes were a lot easier for them to decide -they just picked who they knew, who rode their bus or who lived in their neighborhoods.

The older grade levels had more to say about why they were voting for certain candidates. "My dad told me to vote for him," was a popular phrase that day. I also heard many kids say, "I don't like him, I saw him on TV!"

I'm sure many people would have tried to persuade the students, but I never once told them who I was going to vote for - and believe me, I was asked. Many times. Most of them didn't need any information other than what their parents gave them or what they had heard on television.

I was pleasantly surprised by how smart these children are. If we went back to the days I was in elementary school, I was never given the opportunity to participate in an election process. I wouldn't have been able to tell you who was running for president at any given time then. Now, these children are learning why voting is an important rite of passage, and they really do understand how historical this particular election is.

Now, the national election is over and Barack Obama will be our new president of the United States. I have always stood by our U.S. presidents, and tried to be supportive and understanding under all circumstances. I pray that our country will unite as one so that the children at Wendell Elementary and other schools will be able to participate in a real election when they're adults.