RIPON - One voting precinct in Ripon stood out among the rest of the 12 polling places in the community. It had both a 17-year-old Ripon High School student on its election board as was one of two locations that were served their choice of ice cream from Baskin Robbins.

Excitement of being a part of the 2012 election was definitely on the face of senior Amanda Campbell as she greeted voters and asked them to sign in on the registry before they cast their votes.

The high school girl said it was only 22 to days before her 18th birthday when she will finally be able to sign herself out of school when she needs to go home for something or when she is sick. It is a big week for her as she went to work this week at the Pizza Plus Restaurant in Ripon.

Campbell is planning to attend San Marcos College near San Diego next fall in a career that will take her into sports medicine majoring in Kinesiology. She said college is going to be a big step for her as she will be the first in her family to have gone on to seek a college degree. A friend from high school, Angelina Martinez, now at Stanislaus State University will be transferring to the same school next year with her family living in Oceanside.

Amanda noted that she was serving on the election board as part of her AVID class community service requirement.

A friend in that AVID class, Kaitlyn Beeler, urged her to go online and apply for the election board position. Both are in a high school economics class together. Kaitlyn – also 17 years old – was serving at a precinct at Winters Glen Apartments on Main Street along with Josie Beeler.

Senior Alba Ramirez was at the First Baptist Church precinct on Ripona Avenue. Lindsey Westall was at Park View Elementary School and Jessica Koller was at Ripon City Hall.

Three Ripon Christian Elementary School second grade classes visited the polling place at Grace Brethren Church at the intersection of Maple Avenue and Main Street to learn just how the voting takes place in the community.