Miss Marion was surprised when her kindergartners asked for a vote. It had been weeks since they voted on anything. When Simon asked for a vote on early recess, she did not think twice. Miss Marion did not even turn her back away from the whiteboard where she was drawing the letter G to look at the class.
Miss Marion touted her voting strategy to parents. The children could always ask for a vote. If the kids were unanimous about something, they could change the course of the day. What she did not tell the parents was that she knew how to get one kid to always vote with her.
Timmy was that kid this year. Miss Marion had him act as her little assistant. He was the only child allowed to water the flowers, sharpen pencils and lead the line to the cafeteria. In exchange, he always voted with Miss Marion.
“All in favor of extra recess starting now?” Miss Marion said. All of the kids said “aye” and raised their hands.
“That’s 19 kids,” Simon said.
“All opposed?” Miss Marion said, finally turning around. There was silence. Timmy was gone.
A cheer erupted from the kids, and they raced for the door. Miss Marion tried to control them, but they were already outside. It was too late.
What she didn’t know was that the kids had hatched a plan weeks in the making. They waited for someone to be called to the principal’s office.
Izzy left her lunch box in the cafeteria the day before, so she got called to the principal’s office to pick it up. When Izzy returned, she told Timmy that the principal needed to see him. Timmy wanted to ask Miss Marion, but Simon said it was rude to not just listen to the principal. Plus, did he want to interrupt Miss Marion’s important spelling lesson?
So Timmy snuck out and closed the door so softly that Miss Marion did not hear it. As soon as he was gone, Simon called for the vote.
When Timmy returned, he found an empty classroom. Miss Marion had to chase after her class. Timmy walked over to the sink, filled the watering can and started watering the plants.