Perhaps you have heard of fantasy baseball or fantasy football, where the real life stats of players on your “team” are compiled to help a team to victory. Well, welcome to fantasy politics. This is an activity I am currently using with my Lights Academy seniors. They have really embraced learning about different servants in our government and have a much greater understanding of the variety of roles one may play in our government as well as having a practical connection to daily political news.

Here are the steps for playing fantasy politics:

• Points are based on the number of times a political figure is mentioned in articles in the New York Times and Washington Post over four weeks, beginning on Monday, October 30th and ending on Sunday, November 26th.
• Donald Trump will not be used in this competition. A team that gained him would almost automatically win.
• Each team has $100 to “spend” on its lineup.
• A lineup will consist of four politicians whose data will count. One other politician may be kept in reserve. All other politicians must be relased.
• A new lineup may be submitted at the start of each week.
• In the auction, each team will in turn provide a name to be auctioned off until all teams are filled or until money has been depleted.
• The auction is scheduled for 1 PM on Friday, October 27th
• Just like in sports competitions, politicians may be traded, released, or signed for the beginning of each new week.

NOTE: We had one trade that occurred before the start of the “season.” This trade saw Paul Manafort moving to another team for James Comey. The “owners” of Paul Manafort are expecting a big boost now that Manafort has been in the news so much this past week. The fortunes of a fantasy politics team can be erratic in the same way as a fantasy sports team!