On election day, The Hamlin School welcomed filmmaker Anna Sergeeva to speak with students in grades 4-8. Ms. Sergeeva visited Hamlin last spring and filmed girls talking about what they would change if they were president for her film, If I Were The President.

Ms. Sergeeva shares more about the project:

I found a worksheet from when I was seven years old. Prompted by “If I were the President of the United States, I would change…”, I wrote “that every family has a home.”

In April 2018, I traveled across America with filmmaker Aimee Hoffman, asking over 100 young people under 18 years old what they would change if they were the President of the United States. We started in San Francisco, then headed to Boulder, Colorado, New Orleans, Nashville, rural Ohio and ended in New York City.

The project’s website – ifiwerethepresident.org – features artifacts from the journey including a short film, portraits, and written statements as well as a downloadable template to share what you would change as President and an accompanying lesson plan to facilitate this activity in schools.

Students in the film speak about the following (among other topics):

Protecting the Earth, Gun Reform, Fighting Poverty, Free and Accessible Healthcare, Free and Accessible Education, Ending War, Ending Racism, and Helping Refugees

After showing the film, our girls had the opportunity to write down what they would focus on if they were president. Multiple students then stood up and shared what they would change. Students spoke passionately about strengthening gun laws, getting rid of the electoral college, improving mental health awareness and ending homelessness.

The assembly provided students with a powerful forum to think about our democracy and our shared humanity.