Students at St. Patrick's Catholic High School will vote at a simulated polling station set up in their cafeteria on election day on Thursday.
Social Sciences Department Head Payton Jacklin said they're participating in a mock vote for the provincial election.
"There's an organization in the province called CIVIX, and they help provide instructional materials for students in our Grade 10 civics classes around how parliament works, and elections, and all of those kinds of things," Jacklin said. "So, they run a student vote across the province that schools can sign up for and we have a long tradition of participating in this."
Jacklin credits former law teacher, Blake Morrison, who has since retired for getting the program started.
"So, we will have voting stations set up in our cafeteria on Thursday. Our entire student body is going to be invited to vote. They'll be given a ballot, they'll check in, they'll get their name crossed off the list, not unlike what you would experience yourself on election day," he said.
Jacklin said some students have larger roles to play.
"Our civics classes are taking on the role of the poll workers in the election, and they're also doing some of that informational work in advance. We had some classes creating party platform videos for our morning announcements, so students are aware of the different candidates and what they stand for. We're also putting out a general call for students to go out and do some research and get informed themselves, because that's an important part of the process," Jacklin said.
He's expecting 1,500 students to participate.
"In our student bodies, the NDP (New Democratic Party) and Green Parties tend to do better than the other parties," said Jacklin. "So, we don't necessarily mirror what the county or province looks like in general."
The results from the mock vote are expected to be shared on Friday.