A taste of democracy: Students exercise the right to vote – for chicken tenders

MANCHESTER, NH – In alignment with its core mission, to “fight the good fight so that every student has access to success … to believe in themselves, achieve their goals, and do good,” the Bring It! afterschool program last week presented a double-header of learning and inspiration.

The program, an outpost for city school students between grades 4-12, meets twice weekly at Hillside Middle School combining activities and mentorship to lift kids up and help them find a solid path forward. Many of the students are from families who’ve resettled here from other countries.

In a recent session that combined democracy, voting, municipal government, creative outlets, chicken tenders and how to make a dream come true, some 60 students assembled in the cafeteria for the evening’s activity. Also on hand were Mayor-elect Jay Ruais, Nick Lavalee, founder of Wicked Joyful and the crusader who helped make Manchester the Chicken Tender Capital of the world. Lavalee was there in partnership with sponsors of the dinner, Members First Credit Union CEO Courtney Fifield and Mike Simoneau, Senior VP of Community Outreach.

“We had heard Nick speak about the history and cultural significance of the chicken tender to Manchester during a recent Leadership Greater Manchester meeting at the Millyard Museum,” said Fifield.

From there, Fifield identified the Bring It! afterschool program as a local non-profit the bank was interested in supporting through its ongoing monthly spotlight events. The idea was hatched to make it an informational session for the kids, feed them some local chicken tenders – with a side order of history – and pull it all together with an introduction to the incoming mayor and a lesson on democracy.

Ruais had a chance to connect with the students on a personal level by relating how his wife, Veronica, came to the U.S. from Peru with no English language skills.

“When she got to the United States, she didn’t speak a single word of English. And she went to a church basement for two years to learn the language. And it was really hard for her and she had times where she was scared and when she wasn’t able to meet friends and it took her some time, but she was able to build a really good network of people who were just like her,” Ruais said.

“Sometimes it was scary and sometimes it was hard, but ultimately, because of what she was able to do, when she learned the language, she made a lot of really great friends. She also got a great career and so for anybody who is nervous or scared about being in a new place, a new environment, a new culture, know that it will get easier and it will get better,” Ruais said. “You guys are our most important resource here. You’re the next generation of people here in the city. So I am so excited to be with you today and hope to get the opportunity to come back and visit again.”

Lavallee was up next. He told the students how he had been a Hillside student  “a million years ago” and that he wanted to talk to them about determination.

“Eight years ago I made positive personal changes in my life that allowed me to thrive in creative endeavors,” Lavallee said, a segue into his business venture, Wicked Joyful.

“I made custom action figures and an original line of apparel in my basement and actually caught the attention of celebrities, after I posted them to my social media. It wasn’t long before I received national media attention for these toys,” Lavallee said, name-dropping “the singer from Weezer,” and “Robert Rodriguez, the director of a little show on Disney called The Mandalorian.”

And while the pop-culture references may or may not have landed squarely with this young crowd, Lavallee’s enthusiasm was contagious. He then shared how he found a way to elevate the city’s reputation by campaigning for Manchester to become the Chicken Tender Capital of the World.

“The chicken tender was invented here in 1974 by Arthur Pappas at the Puritan Backroom restaurant. How many of you knew that?” Lavallee asked, to a few raised hands and head nods. “So you’re learning a fun fact tonight. Make some noise if you love chicken tenders.”

And following the noisy cheers and applause, Lavallee told the kids about how it was one year ago that he began his appeal to the city by going before the Board of Aldermen to suggest the city declare itself the Chicken Tender Capital of the World based on its traceable history in the annals of inventive, delicious and unique ways to serve chicken.

Lavallee told the kids as he passed out some Chicken Tender Capital of the World swag that he hoped his story would inspire them.

“Not only to believe in yourself but believe in your community, so that you will achieve your goals,” Lavallee said.

And that was the perfect transition for combining the presence of a new mayor, who won his election by popular vote, and a chicken tender challenge, in which the kids got to taste-test tenders from two different restaurants and then vote for the one they liked best.

In the interest of making sure every restaurant in Manchester that serves its own version of tenders – and there are many – can continue to do so with pride, Lavallee kept the names of the restaurants participating in the taste test confidential. It was more of a chance to teach the kids about leveraging their voice through voting. They gobbled up the samples from plates marked with either red or blue tape.

Doug Leclerc, who is director of Bring It! then gave the kids their instructions. Eat one tender from each plate, then come up and vote one time with either a red paper or blue paper. Just one. Vote for the one you liked best – and don’t be influenced by what your friends think, he said – a strategy that may be fair in terms of tenders, but for Ruais, influencing the vote sounded OK to him.

“I did not like the idea that we’re not allowed to persuade someone how to vote,” said Ruais, the candidate who hung his campaign hat on the tens of thousands of doors he knocked on to ask for votes,” who flashed a big smile as he carried a tray of “red” plated tenders to the hungry voters.  “May the best tender win.”