Students at several Montgomery County schools have let their voices be heard through mock elections and mock presidential debates. Teachers say instructing youth about today's presidential race is a great way to boost their civics educations.

"They were much more versed in it than I ever dreamed 10-year-olds would be," said Heidi Williams, a fifth-grade teacher at Gilbert Linkous Elementary School in Blacksburg.

Students as young as 8 have asked about taxes and the effect of the election on their schools and homes, teachers say.

Here are the outcomes of a few mock elections held at schools:

Harding Avenue Elementary School

Democrat Barack Obama: 69 percent

Republican John McCain: 31 percent

Christiansburg Middle School, eighth-graders

Obama: 55 percent

McCain: 42 percent

Green Party candidate Ralph Nader: 3 percent

Gilbert Linkous Elementary School

Obama: 56.1

McCain: 42.1

Blacksburg Middle School

Obama: 449 students

McCain: 254 students

Democrat U.S. Rep. Rick Boucher: (unopposed) 614 students

Democrat Mark Warner, U.S. Senate: 500 students

Republican Jim Gilmore, U.S. Senate: 168 students

Other results will not be tallied until after today's national vote, so schools can compare statistics.

-- Anna L. Mallory

Visit Anna Mallory's Chalk Dust blog at newrivervalley.com for the latest on your schools, your news and your community.