NORMAL - Like millions of adults around the country, area students are excited about playing a role in the upcoming election. The efforts ranged from staging to mock elections to registering 18-year-old high school students as real voters.

At Chiddix Junior High School in Normal, about 900 "voters" have been registering to vote and learning about the candidates, all in preparation for casting ballots on Election Day.

Student-made posters scattered around the Normal school encouraged classmates to register and vote or promoted presidential candidates Sens. John McCain, R-Ariz., and Barack Obama, D-Ill.

A portable classroom on the Chiddix grounds was decked out in red, white and blue trim, serving as election headquarters for the Normal school.

Taking a break from registering classmates to vote, Clay McKinley stopped to say how much he enjoyed the mock election process.

"It's a great way to learn how the real thing works," The 11-year-old sixth-grader said.

His class set a grueling pace at times, registering 120 students in 10 minutes at one point.

Some students were told, "Sorry you can't register today," when they couldn't prove they were "citizens" of Chiddix. Each student had to produce their school identification or school schedule.

Students even learned the significance of the Electoral College. The students are divided into 10 teams, and each was assigned electoral votes based on how many students it has, said social studies teacher Lisa Galliart.

Many students did research on the candidates to decide who they will vote for on Tuesday.

Hunter Watts, 11, asked his dad "a lot of questions," and the sixth-grader watched the televised presidential and vice presidential debates.

"I hadn't seen anything like that before - a good debate," he said.

Across town at Kingsley Junior High School, a rally on Friday ended a two-week, multidiscipline election unit. Students chose candidates and ran elaborate, creative campaigns.

"I have never seen 1,060 students so engaged and so focused in helping candidates win," said Kingsley teacher Jennifer Ritchason.

Likewise, Tremont Middle School students portraying the Democratic and Republican candidates participated in an election rally earlier in the week complete with pomp and patriotic music. They are also planning an inaugural ball on Jan. 20.

Across the area, the election touched all grade levels. Elementary school students have participated in mock elections and high school administrators registered legally eligible voters among their students.

At Bloomington High School, 22 students registered to vote, said Principal Tim Moore.

Tom Eder, an election registrar and Normal Community West High School's principal, registered about 45 students and about a dozen faculty members who had moved or changed addresses before the Oct. 7 deadline.

"It was a teaching moment," said Eder, a former social studies teacher. "I was very pleased," he said of the number of students showing interest in voting in their first election.