Fifth grade DeMello Elementary student Jesse Walker had just emerged from a voting booth at the school cafeteria. While he might be too young to vote in the presidential election, he was able to voice his choice for his school’s Superhero Carnival slogan on November 8.

He checked into his voting station, voted on a tablet, and even received his “I Voted” sticker upon leaving. He thought it was a good learning experience.

“Since we’re not able to vote right now, it’s good practice for what to do when we can vote,” Walker said.

The election was DeMello Principal Cathy Maccini's quest to bring a little election fever into the classroom. She decided to leave the slogan of the school’s annual springtime carnival in students’ hands after a successful 2012 election to change the school mascot.

She tasked each student with creating their own slogans. Each class voted to send one to a “primary” election to narrow down the choices, and five appeared on the November 8 ballot.

“It coincides with the election so we can teach our kids about the electoral process on a basic level,” Maccini said.

In the end, students approved "We Are All Super Heroes: We Can All Save the Day in our Own Special Ways" to appear on promotional material and t-shirts related to the carnival.

Voting was not just for Dartmouth’s youngest students. At Dartmouth High School, 564 out of the school’s 1,066 students voted in a mock election hosted by the Social Studies Department.

Democrat Hillary Clinton won students’ pick for president with 50.9 percent of the vote. Donald Trump secured 40.6 percent of the vote, while Libertarian Gary Johnson finished with 5.7 percent. Green-Rainbow candidate Jill Stein came in last with 2.8 percent of the vote. Students also voted for Democrat William Keating for United States Representative.

Students also weighed in on the four ballot questions, narrowly defeating Question 1, which would open a new slot parlor in Massachusetts. More than three quarters of students said no to a charter school expansion. About 80 percent approved Question 3’s farm animal regulations, and 63.4 percent voted to legalize recreational marijuana.

Social studies teacher Andrew Apperson has been brainstorming a mock election since 2012. This year, he took on the task of organizing it.

“Now that we have the technology to do it in an efficient way, I wanted to bring an election experience to students,” Apperson said.

All students voted via a Google app that opened a ballot on November 7, and closed on November 8 at 1 p.m. Results were announced school-wide at the end of the day.

The election was well-received, Apperson said. By noon on November 8, more than half of Dartmouth’s students had voted.

“We had a lot of passionate students wanting to express their views,” Apperson said. “This gives them a voice.”