There are winners and losers in every election — eventually — and the big winners in Election 2000 happen to be ... social studies teachers.

        Imagine it. For years you have worn your imagination thin trying to convince students that the Electoral College is not a small liberal arts school in Tennessee. You've scrambled for an appealing way to present the rather pedantic constitutional framework for how one becomes the president. You've hoped beyond hope that one day your students would fall in love with the lively, colorful and sometimes contentious creature a democracy can be.

        And then along come George W. and Albert A. and, shazam, you're in business.

        “They're just eating it up,” says Andy Marx, a history teacher at Bridgetown Junior High. “It's the perfect teaching time — they're living through history.”

"Wonderful moment'
        Says Sam Jenike, who teaches ancient and medieval history at Seven Hills Upper School, “If you have a syllabus, you just have to toss it out now.”

        This, says Mr. Jenike, is what every history teacher waits for, “the teachable, wonderful moment” when political or social events prove so controversial, so unpredictable, so momentous that not even the most preoccupied or disinterested adolescent can resist them.

        Suddenly all the wooden pieces that make the machine of democracy work begin to make sense. And — surrounded by minute-by-minute reports by network TV and lengthy examinations by newspapers — American young people have better access to election information and inclusion in the excitement than any other generation in history.

        So into class they tumble, trading views, trying out scenarios and starving for information. “Every day they come in and say, "Do we know who won yet?'” says Mr. Marx.

        That hanging, haunting question may cause real anxiety for adults, but most students are likely to view it as more fascinating than alarming, their teachers say.

        Sam Jenike's ninth-grade students want specifics. They want to understand the real-life workings of the Electoral College process. They want to debate if it should be revamped or replaced and how, constitutionally, to go about such changes.

One lesson: Vote
        Indeed, the rare occurrence of one candidate winning the popular vote and another the election is one of the most troubling aspects for many students. “Teen-agers really want things to be fair,” says Mike Shaffer, an English and current-events teacher at Live Oaks Career Development Campus. “For some, there's an overriding feeling that this thing has been screwed up, that it's just going to get tied up in court.”

        Therein lies the greatest challenge for the teacher: to watch the messy imperfections of the democratic system brought to life on the television screen and, the next day, find a way to magnify its benefits.

        “You need to see it in a positive way instead of all the negatives,” says Mr. Jenike. “You don't want to turn young people off.”

        And so the teachers counter by turning on that sense of empowerment and relevance so attractive to adolescents. When you're an adult, make sure you register and vote, they say. Every vote counts.

        This year, their students actually believe what they say.

Children's adds research space
West Chester flexes muscle
Best bet to find flu shot: stores
'Night of Fright' and fire
Cabaret theater coming to Newport complex
New United Way leader familiar face in Tristate
RAMSEY: Living history
Christian school's 2nd campus takes root, thrives
Mason gains another chunk
MCNUTT: Community art
HOWARD: Neighborhoods
Buckeye Egg facing fifth contempt filing
Court limits adult kids' ability to sue over parents' wrongful death
Covington man indicted in death of neighbor
Driver's condition critical after head-on crash
Elections panel to hear charge
Excellence rocks at Anderson H.S. rally
Fairfield assistant principal resigns over dispute with boss
Family says mutilated man was looking for cars
General Assembly schedule undecided
Justin to stay with Ohio couple trying to adopt
Licensure board drops complaint about review
Louisville firm weighs starting a water taxi
Man found fatally shot was accused of having sex with a minor
Pardon asked for preacher
Politicking banned at Baptist meetings
Some criticize plan to move mentally retarded
Teen-ager hit while in jail, suit alleges
Thousands send gifts across globe
Unfinished business haunts Bosnia anniversary gathering
Voting problems subject of hearings
Witnesses contradict police over shooting
Woman convicted in mother's death
Kentucky News Briefs
Tristate A.M. Report