By admin 
SAN ANTONIO – Esther Perez Carvajal Fifth-grade teacher Danielle Salgado admits that it was difficult to teach her children about this year’s U.S. elections and the voting process without negativity.
Based on the vast amount of malicious and sometimes false information that is difficult enough for adults, let alone a child, to sift through, Salgado could have settled and talked about the textbook definition of an election.
However, Salgado created a way to cut through the political clutter with the help of two unique teacher assistants: two bearded dragons named Charizard and Eevee, who campaign against each other in a race to become the school’s master pet.
Each has its own campaign slogan and theme song. From Charizard is: ‘Never Back Down, Never Give Up Crickets’, and from Eevee is ‘Girl on Fire’.
As for songs, Charizard jams to Katy Perry’s “Roar” and Eevee bumps to Alicia Keys’ “Girl on Fire” as they wander around, eat bugs and sunbathe during intermission.
“I think the kids are even more excited about the campaign here at school than they are about the federal election campaign, but we walk them through the whole process,” Salgado said. “They are all registered to vote, and on Election Day they vote for their favorite bearded dragon.”
As for how she connects the reptiles to teaching, she said the children use their persuasive writing and art skills to argue for their favorite dragon honestly and accurately.
Although she ran negative ads about this year’s election, Salgado wanted it to be positive and clear.
That message was echoed by two students who spoke to us about their experiences and how they advocate with their friends for a particular dragon.
Angel and Jayleen, the dragons’ caretakers, pointed out the qualities of one animal over the other.
For Charizard, Angel said he is better because he eats his vegetables and speaks Spanish, such as “Yo tengo hambre,” which translates to “I’m hungry” in English. He added that Salgado’s teaching method was fun and informative for him, but he expressed a positive vibe towards Eevee.
“It was cool when I heard that he (Charizard) was going to participate in the election. I learned about voting. I learned that you have a say, and that it is connected to something,” Angel said.
For Eevee, Jayleen said she is better because she is more adventurous and fun. She admits that she didn’t know much about elections, and although it was difficult to learn, she enjoyed it because it was something new.
Although she liked Eevee, she also expressed positive feelings towards Charizard, saying she didn’t know much about him.
“Pets do much better,” Jayleen said of Salgado’s teaching method.
Their vote for each dragon was cast via custom voting registration cards created by City Year Team Leader Nicholas Sandoval.
Sandoval told KSAT he loved Salgado’s idea when she approached him, and he felt the registration cards gave the kids an extra boost to understanding what an election was.
“It gives kids an opportunity to learn something new that they don’t have much exposure to because they just watch the news and see things about elections,” Sandoval said. “I never had anything like that when I was little. It took me a while to learn the real details when it came to voices. Many children are very enthusiastic about it.”
Their votes will be collected from each class and the winner will be announced on Election Day, Sandoval said.
Regardless of the outcome, Salgado said she tells her children she wants everyone to celebrate the winner.
Because for her it was always about teaching in a way they will remember forever.
“I think it’s very important. I think overall we know that the Latino vote is very underutilized,” Salgado said. “If we can get seven- and eight-year-olds excited about bearded dragon running, I think you can get any kid excited about voting.”
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