223-3120 ext. 701

ABOUT ME:
I grew up on a ranch in the little town of Salmon, Idaho. My Dad worked hard, taking care of our ranch and working at the local sawmill. My mom was a stay at home mom and also worked hard on the ranch.

I went to Ricks College and then onto BYU where I graduated with a B.A. in history and policitcal science with a minor in philosophy. My first teaching assignment was at Orem High School and then I moved on to Timpanogos when the school opened. In many ways I consider Timpanogos my home away from home.

Currently I live in Santaquin with my beautiful wife (Sandy) and three kids (Hailey, Taylor, and Cayden).

My personal blog

MOCK ELECTION

To help you get involved in the political process, Government & Citizenship classes will participate in a mock election. The AP Government class will organize campaign teams and will run for President. A primary election will be held to determine each parties candidate. After this, a general election will be held. In order for Gov & Citiz. students to vote in the general election they must fill out an actual voter registration form and submit it to Mr. Olson by the deadline (TBA).The Government & Citizenship classes will form the electoral college and will vote for a presidential candidate.

In the last term, the Gov. & Citiz. classes will organize a Mock Congress. The President, elected in our Mock Election, will sign or VETO the bills that are debated and passed in the Mock Congress. Thus, its important to carefully consider who you will be voting for in the Mock Election since they will influence the outcome of the Mock Congress.


GENERAL ELECTION DATES / DEADLINES:

>> Election Blog <<

>> Mock Presidential debate: Wedneday (Nov. 11) and Friday (Nov. 13) in the Little Theatre @ Lunch.

>> Voter Registration Deadline ............................................................................................................... Date: Nov. 6

>> General Election Voting (Room 701).................................................................................................. Date: Nov. 13 & 16

Early voting will take place Nov. 12 (Monday) at lunch in Room 701

Popular Vote: (FINAL VOTE COUNT)
Republicans = 65
Democrats = 57

Electoral College Vote:
Democrats = 80
Republicans = 98
Undecided = 28

3 STATES WERE TIED (Michigan, Illinois, Massuchusetts), There were no returns for Nevada and Rhode Island.

WE HAVE A WINNER!
REPUBLICANS = 14 VOTES
DEMOCRATS = 9 VOTES

Congratulations to both campaign teams for working so hard. You have made it fun and educational!

Republican states: ( Arizona, Alaska, Alabama, Iowa, South Carolina, Florida, Texas, Louisana, North Dakato, North Carolina, Michigan, California, Vermont, New Mexico)

Democratic states: ( Washington, Rhode Island, New York, Colorado, Ohio, Illinois, Massachusetts, Tennessee, Nevada)

Nebraska's vote is split and is thus not counted. ( Sorry.... blame it on the Framers :> )

2008 Election
The results of House voting: 11 states = Republicans, 8 states = Democrats.... Click here to See the 2008 Election Data

MOCK ELECTION RESOURCES:

>> Mock Election Guide (For AP Students)

>> Electoral College Assignments (PDF) UPDATED!!
(AP Campaign Managers: you need to print this document for your team so you can start planning your campaign strategy.)

Music
Presidential Debate
Presidential debate

MOCK CONGRESS

Important dates:


SENATE RULES (PDF)
BILL FORMAT (PDF)
BILL EXAMPLE (PDF)

MOCK CONGRESS INSTRUCTION PACKET (PDF)

PUBLIC POLICY PROJECT:
Resources: Public Policy Page

AP U.S. Government Resources

Announcements / Deadlines For:
11/ 17... Quiz on chap 6 bloc No. 1. Please finish chapter 6 for Thursday. We will TAKE OUR UNIT TEST ON MONDAY OF NEXT WEEK.

11/13... We finished the Powerpoint on Civil Liberties. Chapter 6 bloc No. 1 is due next time.

Presidential debate went well during lunch. Voting today after school (last day of voting is on Monday after school)

11/11... Be sure to work on your case summaries using oyez.org (cases are listed in the learning guide)

11/9... Sub today

11/5... Quiz on Chapter 5 bloc's 1 and 2. Worked on the study guide outline (powerpoint on Civil Liberties). We got into the section on search and siezure.

11/3... Rvwd the test. Handed out materials for the next unit. We worked through the power point (using the outline in the study guide) on freedom of religion.

10/30... Sub today :[ .... Corrected test and turned in the FRQ. Worked on Chapter 5 review questions. Please have Bloc No. 1 done for Tuesday.

10/28.... Be sure to get the M.C. and the FRQ done for FRIDAY!!

Also print out the reading guide for Ch. 5 (FYI, We will come back to Ch. 4 in another unit) and bring it to class on Friday. I will give an introduction to the next unit on Friday.

Unit 4, Civil Liberties and Civil Rights
(Starting Nov. 5)

Exam Date: MONDAY, NOV. 23

Reading:
Chapter 5
(please note that we will return to ch. 4 in a latter unit)
Bloc 1 p. 99-110.................Due: Tuesday Nov. 3
Bloc 2 p. 110-121...............Due: TBA

Chapter 6
Bloc 1 p. 125-139.................Due: TBA
Bloc 2 p. 139-151.................Due: TBA

ASSIGNMENTS:

Chapter 5 Reading Guide (PDF)
Chapter 6 Reading Guide (PDF)

Learning Guide (PDF)

POWERPOINT:

» Civil Liberties (online)
» Civil Liberties (download)

RESOURCES:
» Oyez.org (Great resource for concise summaries of Supreme Court Cases. Multimedia resources as well.)

» Stree Law

Homework / Announcements:

It is very important that you complete your study guides for the current unit and bring it on the day of the test!!

11/ 18 A-Day... We have our unit test this Friday!! Senate Leadership elections today!

11/17 B-Day.... Close to finishing the presentation on ideology. Please review your study guide and have it ready to turn in.

Also, we had Senate elections today, congrats to the winners!

11/12 A-Day... Final Draft of your bill is due today. We are working on study guides for political ideology. Plan on a test for this unit next week on Wednesday ( Bring your study guides on that day!!!) Also, our opening day of Congress (Elections) will take place on Wednesday.

11/11 B-Day... We worked on our study guides for political ideology. We have one more class period to finish this (We should finish by Friday). Plan on a test on this unit next week (Tuesday). We will also hold our opening day of congress next week (Elections), possibly Tuesday or Thursday.

11/10 A-Day... Last day for rough drafts to be turned in. Final version of Bills are due on Thursday!! (please have 5 copies of the bill ready)

11/9 B-Day... Sub today.

11/6 A-Day... Students turned a rought draft of the bills. We then reviewed these bills in the party.

If you did not have a rough draft today, you must get it done by next week to get partial credit (it needs to be typed and in the proper format)

11/5 B-Day... Homework is to prepare a rough of your bill for the Mock Congress. This can be handwritten (use the bill sample sheet). You may turn in one rough draft for the team of bill sponsors IF, you work on in together outside of class. Otherwise, you must turn in your own version.

11/4 A-Day... Homework is to prepare a rough of your bill for the Mock Congress. This can be handwritten (use the bill sample sheet). You may turn in one rough draft for the team of bill sponsors IF, you work on in together outside of class. Otherwise, you must turn in your own version.

11/3 B-Day... Party caucuses today. Worked more on the political parties power point. You need to get a rough draft of your bill done.

11/2 A-Day... Party caucuses today: election of party leaders, nominations for speaker of the House, and the various committees.

10/30 B-Day... We had a sub on Friday. The assignment was to go online and complete the ideology grid sheet (print the sheet and use the powerpoint for the information)

Also, be working hard on getting your bills going. We need to have those done ASAP.

Unit 3, Political Parties
Exam Date:
(A-day) = TBA
(B-day) = TBA

Assignments:

» Poltical IQ (PDF)
» STUDY GUIDE (PDF)
» Ideology Grid Assignment (PDF)
» Poltical Spectrum (PDF)

PowerPoints:
» Political Parties (download)
» Polticial Parties (online)

» Political Ideology (download)
» Political Ideology (online)
» Political Ideology GRID (online)

Resources:
» Article: Hussein gets 100% of the Vote

» Library of Congress Election Website
(Simple explanations of the elections and parties)

Announcements:

Class is offered Spring Semester