Social-studies teacher Nathaniel Rios won't discuss his political beliefs with students at Flowing Wells High School.
But that didn't keep him from using Tuesday's presidential election in his lesson plans.
"It takes the textbook feel out of history and gives it a living, moving, breathing feel," Rios said. "I can see the kids responding to history and government."
Like Rios and his class, teachers and students across Tucson used Sen. Barack Obama's historic victory as a springboard Wednesday to talk government and tie in lessons already learned about the civil-rights movement and suffrage.
Rios' U.S. history students, who are mostly juniors, debated Tuesday's results and weighed in on how effective Obama will be in office and what challenges he'll face. They also contemplated why Republican Sen. John McCain didn't win.
People are also reading…
Students were divided about Obama's experience.
Junior Stephanie Morrison says he lacks experience, but she won't hold it against him.
"Look at where experience has gotten us," she said, referring to President Bush.
Matthew Ramirez, a junior, agreed that Obama's experience pales in comparison to McCain's, but he doesn't doubt Obama will succeed in the White House.
"He's not an average Joe," Ramirez said. "He is a good person to bring the change we desperately need in our country and the world around us."
Junior Karisa Vandervort supported McCain but said his loss wasn't heartbreaking.
"I saw things in Obama I liked, but I saw more in McCain," she said.
Marana High School Principal Jim Doty observed a special-needs class Wednesday at his school and said students were ecstatic about Obama's victory.
The majority of Loretta Alvarez's 30 students had selected Obama as president in a mock election Tuesday.
"The kids got really excited that their pick was who people voted for nationally," Doty said.
At Sahuarita High School, 35 students in Kent Thompson's American government class were ready to talk about Tuesday's momentous election.
"They were very much into it," said Thompson, a fourth-year teacher at Sahuarita. "These types of days I cherish."
Obama's ascendency to the presidency fit perfectly with what students had been studying before Tuesday's election. Thompson had students examining the impact of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 and the Voting Rights Act of 1965, which opened the voting booth to a wider spectrum of people across the country.
"The students were more engaged," Thompson said after class.
As part of the discussion, the students viewed a clip from the television documentary series "Eyes on the Prize," detailing the events and decisions leading up to the 1964 and 1965 laws, enacted during the presidency of Democrat Lyndon B. Johnson.
He said the students, whether or not they agreed with Obama, "clung to this idea that anything is possible."
At Peter Howell Elementary School in the Tucson Unified School District, students watched the national and state elections unfold at the same time as their school election.
The student council races were held at the same time that students cast ballots for U.S. president in the Kids Voting Arizona program.
The festivities kicked off with fifth-graders performing an original presidential rap for a school assembly and listing reasons they should exercise their right to vote. Campaign speeches followed, with suggestions for a gardening club and more computers, and one recommendation that the lunch workers wear hairnets.
Alice Shircore, an art specialist at the school, said one student borrowed Obama's campaign themes of change and inclusion. It worked for Obama and it worked for the student, who was elected student body president.
"It was fun and it was important that students were able to participate in this historic election," she said.
