PEABODY — Thursday marks the 50th anniversary of a city tradition that has provided thousands of high school students with the opportunity to experience the inner workings of city government.
Student Government Day pairs high school students with city counterparts in a variety of municipal government roles. Beginning with a breakfast at City Hall, students spend the day shadowing their counterparts. Along the way, participants tour various city venues.
The day ends with student-run City Council and School Committee meetings where students have the opportunity to sit in their counterparts’ chairs, introduce business matters, and present and debate their own motions.
The tradition began with a young history teacher with an incredible vision, thanks to the lessons he learned at St. Mary’s High School in Lynn.
Head of the Peabody High School history department for 28 years, Frank Hardy grew up in Lynn. He graduated from St. Mary’s in 1958 when there were separate schools for boys and girls.
“St. Mary’s was the best time of my life,” Hardy said. “That’s where I learned the importance of giving back to the community because the school promoted public service. Just about every boy who graduated in my class chose careers in social service as priests, social workers or teachers. I learned from that.”
A graduate of Merrimack College, Hardy taught in Lynn for three years before landing at Peabody High in 1970.
Hardy hit the ground running. He took his history students under his wing, treating them every Sunday to “supper” at his house followed by trips to Boston’s Ford Hall Forum where they listened to inspirational speakers like Ayn Rand and Gloria Steinham.
“I thought it was a good idea for kids to get interested in politics and the issues of the day. I had them read the Boston Globe and Herald every day in my classroom so they were exposed to what goes on outside the classroom,” Hardy said. “I thought public service is a good thing and that’s why I thought Student Government Day would be a good way to show them what really goes on in government.”
With assistance from his “life-young best friend” Andy Metropolis and a few others, Hardy started the program in 1973 with six or seven students. The day consisted of spending the morning at City Hall and then having lunch at the Allenhurst Restaurant.
Hardy then expanded the program to include a three-month commitment. Students were required to attend City Council and School Committee meetings on a regular basis. They became proficient at Robert’s Rules of Parliamentary Procedure and developed their own agendas for the meetings as a way of learning how city government works.
“They learned why it’s important to do community service and they understood they needed to be involved in the things that affect their lives,” Hardy said. “So that’s what we did.”
Hardy said many of his students went on to become city councilors, school committee members, policemen, firemen and city servants.
To participate in the program, students must be elected by their peers.
School Committee member Beverley Griffin Dunne said she was elected twice, and “was fortunate to be elected.” She served as a library trustee and recreation commissioner. She pointed out that many members of the city’s departments and boards traditionally participate, including Mayor Edward A. Bettencourt, Jr., who also participated as a student.
“The mayor always likes to point out that his wife, Andrea, served as mayor [through the program] long before he was elected,” Dunne said. “I’ve always wanted to ask people who now serve in the city if they did it when they were in high school as I believe you will find that many of them did.”
Local newspapers (including The Daily Item) at one time were also involved, with students writing stories that were published in their counterpart’s paper the next day. She said students oftentimes have introduced topics during meetings that are followed up on at future meetings.
State Rep. Thomas P. Walsh (D-Peabody) said he ran for mayor, but lost the race by 37 votes.
“Although I was disappointed that I wouldn’t be mayor for the day, I loved the excitement running up to the election and being part of learning how the process worked,” Walsh said.
Bettencourt said that Student Government Day is a day of celebration for the city and Peabody High seniors.
“I’m thrilled that we will be celebrating the 50th year of continuous operations of this program,” he said. “The program has provided thousands of Peabody students with a wonderful opportunity to learn about our city, meet some wonderful people and have some fun. I’m very grateful for our educators, school administrators and city officials for keeping this wonderful program an important part of our city’s tradition. And I love the fact that the program is older than me!”
By the time Hardy retired in 2001, the program had grown to approximately 85 students.
“It’s been a very good and effective program for all these years,” he said. “Many of these kids would use the experience as part of their resumes as community service when applying for college and many of them, as an example, often got summer jobs out of it so there have been a lot of spin offs from that program. These kids learned to communicate at the neighborhood level to determine what the important issues of the day were for them and they were smart enough to put it in such a language that would have universal appeal as opposed to generally a partisan idea.”
