ASTORIA, Oregon—The middle-schoolers in Barbara Miller's math classes mirrored the rest of America when they voted overwhelmingly for the mighty oak in a nationwide election for America's national tree. The sixth-, seventh-, and eighth-graders from this historic town at the mouth of the Columbia River were among the nearly half-million Americans who cast a vote in April, 2001 in the online election conducted by the National Arbor Day Foundation. The venerable oak left 16 other species in the shade by capturing nearly one-fourth of the votes. It beat out such species as the redwood, dogwood, elm, and magnolia, as well as lesser-known types like the kukui and paloverde.
Miller reports: "It was remarkable how many of my students voted for the oak—especially since they had pictures of some very lovely trees, including the blooming dogwood."
For some of Miller's mostly low-income students, the national tree election was the first chance they'd had to try their hand at a computer. After using their lone classroom computer to access the Web site at www.arborday.org*, the students were able to view any of the trees before voting, by clicking the species name on a list of contenders. If the students' all-business behavior was any indication, Miller's goal of introducing kids to the rights and responsibilities of the democratic process was achieved. They approached the vote with great solemnity, she says, and closely followed the election online as votes from around the nation were tallied.
