Lynn students gain Government experience

LYNN – High school students from across the city took over City Hall Tuesday as they assumed the roles of city officials for Student Government Day.The annual event is devised to give students first hand experience as to how a city government operates as well as the ins and outs of the system.After spending the day walking in the shoes of their assigned city councilors, the students assumed their duties and mock debated various council orders, recommendations and requests on the council agenda.Classical High School senior Alexander Ritterhaus, who is planning on attending Suffolk University and majoring in government in the fall, shadowed councilor Paula Mackin for the day.”I have a strong love for our city, and student government day really accentuates that,” he said. “One of my teachers said government works like a marble cake and that each of the layers work together, and we got to see that today.”Briana Galeazza, also a senior at Classical High and a future student of Quinnipiac University, agreed with Ritterhaus and said she was happy to catch a glimpse of how local government really works behind the scenes.”We got the chance to practice a run through of an actual council meeting in the afternoon and we saw how everything works underneath the superficial layers,” she said.While some of the students said they participated in the event solely to gain insight into the world of politics, Gerryanne Jean, a senior at Classical, said she is actively considering pursuing a role as a future city councilor.”I’m looking at it as a possibility to serve the city,” she said. “We’ll see what happens.”Jean said she was contacted by councilor Judith Kennedy to work alongside her for the day.”She said she remembered me from when she was a librarian at my elementary school, and said I used to pick out all of the challenging books to read,” she said. “I was surprised she remembered me.”During the mock council meeting, the students discussed hot topics ranging from the feeding of geese at Flax and Sluice ponds, loitering on school property, and designating May 1 as “Silver Star Day” to honor the wounded military soldiers of the city.A lively back and forth banter from the students amused both the audience and the council members as they guided them through the process.The students passed several of the requests, such as a trans fat ban in the schools and city restaurants and the donation of used computer printer cartridges from city hall to the school department, while others were determined to need further discussion.