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laughs

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electoral college for kids

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hey kids by now you probably know what a

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college is that's right it's a school

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where students go after they're done

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with high school to study subjects in a

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more intense Advanced way but in this

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video we're going to be talking about a

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different type of college the Electoral

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College the Electoral College is

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actually not for students has no

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teachers and requires no books sounds

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like your kind of college right the

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Electoral College is actually something

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set up by our founding fathers in the

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United States Constitution as a way of

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determining who wins the election for

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U.S president that we hold every four

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years I know what you're thinking

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doesn't the person who receives the most

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votes for president across the country

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win the election well yes but they have

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to receive the most votes in the

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Electoral College not the popular vote

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here's what happened when the founding

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fathers wrote the Constitution which is

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the document that outlines how the

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United States would be run they

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established something called The

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Electoral College to determine who

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becomes president it works like this

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each state has a certain number of

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electoral votes when a person running

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for president wins that state they

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receive the state's electoral votes each

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state has a certain number of electors

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California has the most with 55 while

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Alaska Delaware Montana North and South

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Dakota and Wyoming have the least with

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three the number of electors is based on

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the population of that state there are a

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total of

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538 electoral votes so a candidate would

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need to win 270 or a majority of that

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total to become president

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so if a person running for president

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wins enough states to get to 270

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electoral votes they become president

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sometime after the November election all

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the electors get together to officially

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cast their vote for whoever won their

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state that group of electors is called

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The Electoral College

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but let's step back a second and talk

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about how you go from being a

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presidential candidate to winning the

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electoral college and become president

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it's not that easy as you may know the

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election for U.S president occurs every

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four years either someone new can run or

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the current president can try to win

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again so he or she can serve a second

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term no president is allowed to serve

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more than two consecutive terms to run

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for president you must have been born in

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this country and be at least 35 years

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old running for president is a long

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laborious process and campaigns

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typically last more than a year there

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are usually a bunch of people who want

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to be president and most often they are

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either a Democrat or a Republican

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there are other political parties too

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but it's very unusual for someone who is

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not a Democrat or Republican to win

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candidates from different parties have

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been known to take votes away from the

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Democrat or Republican candidates but

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not enough to become president at least

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not in recent years before the main

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election for President which takes place

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in early November every four years there

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are primaries in each state to narrow

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down the candidates from each party to

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just one once the leading candidates are

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chosen they typically go from state to

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state to campaign and try to convince

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people to vote for them then on Election

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Day people over 18 cast their votes in

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each state and the winner of the

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Electoral College becomes president for

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a four-year term

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because of the Electoral College it's

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actually possible for a candidate to win

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more individual votes across the whole

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country but still lose the Electoral

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College and therefore lose the entire

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election in fact it's happened five

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times Donald Trump John Quincy Adams

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Rutherford B Hayes Benjamin Harrison and

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George W bush have all become president

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while losing the popular vote

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so why did the founding fathers set up

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the Electoral College in the first place

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as they saw it they didn't want Ordinary

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People choosing the president directly

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because they thought they wouldn't be

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well enough informed to select the best

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candidate so they preferred the idea of

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using electors from each state to choose

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on behalf of the citizens the founders

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also didn't want the largest states

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having more influence in the election

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because they had the largest population

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so for example a state like California

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with lots of people could get together

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with other large states like Texas Ohio

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and Florida and choose the president the

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Electoral College gives the voters in

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small population States like Vermont or

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New Hampshire a say in the election it

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means candidates have to campaign in

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every state to win enough Electoral

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College votes to be president if the

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election were just based on population

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candidates would only campaign in larger

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populist States like California Ohio

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Texas New York and Florida

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what do you think about that

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would you rather have the popular vote

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decide who wins or electors from each

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state

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which do you think is fairer

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initially the Constitution also said

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that the person who received the second

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most Electoral College votes would

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become the vice president that changed

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in 1804 when the 12th amendment was

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passed making it so the candidate for

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president could pick his or her VP

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running mate

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because of the electoral college system

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when candidates run for president they

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often Focus their attention on just the

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states they think they need to win to

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become president rather than focusing on

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all the states equally so for example if

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a candidate thinks winning Pennsylvania

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and its 20 electoral votes will help

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them become president they'll spend more

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time there than other states this focus

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on States is one of the criticisms of

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the Electoral College

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if you live in a state that one of the

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candidates know he or she will easily

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win you might feel left out if that

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person never comes to your state to earn

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your vote

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have you heard of red and blue States

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those labels are the result of the

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Electoral College over the past several

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presidential elections states that the

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Democratic candidate is pretty sure he

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or she will win have been labeled blue

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which is the color symbolizing Democrats

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and states that the Republican candidate

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is pretty sure he or she will win have

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been marked red which is the Republican

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color some states have even been labeled

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purple those are states where it's not

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clear who will win you'll often find

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candidates from both parties spend a lot

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of time in these purple states trying to

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win votes

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do you live in a blue red or purple

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state

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if you don't know take a look at which

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candidate has won the electoral votes in

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your state over the last several

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elections

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so what happens if no candidate gets

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enough electoral votes needed to become

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president then Congress decides who wins

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this has happened twice 1801 and 1825.

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to sum up the Electoral College is not a

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college at all but a group of electors

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who choose our president based on how

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candidates do in their states

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the result is that a candidate can get

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the most votes in the country as a whole

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but still lose the Electoral College

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For Better or Worse we're the only

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country in the world that uses this

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system

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now that you've studied up on the

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Electoral College and know more about

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how presidents are elected you've become

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a more informed citizen no matter how

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our elections go and whether or not

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you'll live in a blue or red State one

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thing's for sure being informed is a

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good thing

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hope you had fun learning with us

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visit us at learnbrite.org

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for thousands of free resources and

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TurnKey solutions for teachers and

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homeschoolers

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[Music]