Honored Teacher Discusses 2016 Election Year

January 3, 2017 Peter Arnold

With the presidential inauguration coming up in just a few weeks, how are young people making sense of the most recent election, one of the most bitter and divisive contests in American history?

Jmore recently spoke with Orly Mondell, who was named the 2015-2016 Baltimore County Teacher of the Year.

An educator since 2004, Mondell, a New Jersey native who attends Moses Montefiore-Anshe Emunah Hebrew Congregation, teaches American government classes at Pikesville High School.

What are students saying to you since the election?

Some students were incredibly impacted, but some others said, “Let’s move on.” Those who were most emotional reacted to the popular vote as contrasted with the Electoral College totals. “If the system is flawed, why don’t they fix it?” these students asked.

This is the fourth time in history that the Electoral College vote was less than the popular vote. So I told my students two things: “You must be active in government, [and] you must bring your voice to your elected representatives.” Anybody can do that, even if you’re not old enough to vote. I also asked them, “What’s the alternative to the Electoral College?” That’s the harder question.

Donald Trump won the electoral vote by a lot. You might or might not like the result, but the way we count the votes hasn’t changed in almost 300 years.

How are students reacting now compared with past elections?

After the election, many students were shellshocked walking into school. While some were OK with the result, many were sad. There was definitely an air of, “Wow, that wasn’t how I expected that to go.”

I think it goes back to anytime there’s been struggle or strife, and anyone has offered something different. With [Herbert] Hoover and the Depression, the voters chose [Franklin] Roosevelt. Even going back to John Adams, Thomas Jefferson was the opposite.

In all of these instances, people were looking for something that’s not the same as what they had. For some people, it really doesn’t matter what the new program would be as long as we replace the current situation with something else.

How do you convey a sense of Jewish values to American government and this particular presidential election?

In America, you have the right to express yourself. With Judaism, you have the arena to bring your values to the table. My grandparents believed that the idea of government working is through the people. If you express your right to vote, then you have a say — not like in Europe before World War II.

My grandparents were Holocaust survivors. They came here with nothing and settled into a very small apartment in Brooklyn [N.Y.]. My grandmother was a descendent of a very famous rabbi. She went to work as a seamstress.

My grandfather went to work as a painter. He could make a steel door look like wood. But he told my grandmother, “We’re not in a position to be religious right now. We’re not in any position, we have nothing.” But as soon as he could afford it, he would no longer work on Shabbos.

Over time, the message he would tell his children was, “There’s nothing like America. There’s so much opportunity because of the way the government is set up. You can do what you want to do, and then you can do what you truly love.”

My grandfather voted in every election he could as an American citizen. He would laugh and say that my aunt’s first word was “Eisenhower,” which she learned from the commercials during his election season.

What must we learn from this election?

If you are eligible to vote, you must vote. Go out and vote in every election — presidential, state and local elections, too.

If you don’t like the results, we have freedom of speech, freedom of the press, freedom of petitions. Make your views known.

Peter Arnold is an Olney-based freelance writer.