LYNN — Tuesday was Student Government Day at City Hall, which brought droves of young people in to observe how the city is run.
Selected senior students at the city’s high schools had an opportunity to become involved with local government, work on a development plan for the City of Lynn, and participate in debates on how they would spend $1 million to help improve the city.
“We are all so proud of you,” said Mayor Jared Nicholson in his address to the students. He said the students who attended the event represented “many individual stories, different backgrounds,” and that was the “real diversity” in the city of Lynn.
District Court Judge Ina Howard-Hogan, representatives from the Lynn legislative delegation, City Council President Jay Walsh, and Superintendent of Schools Dr. Patrick Tutwiler were among those who greeted the students. Most of the speakers encouraged students to ask any questions they wanted to during the event.
“Government touches your life every single day, but it only works if you are engaged with it,” said state Sen. Brendan Crighton (D-Lynn).
Tutwiler said that, although he worked in other districts, he had not experienced anything like Student Government Day. According to him, this event, which is run by the City of Lynn, was designed to get the students to understand how city government worked.
“It’s an opportunity for the kids to just really dive deep,” said Tutwiler.
Ten students from each of the six Lynn high schools were selected to participate in the event. According to the officials, each school had a different selection process.
“We invited every school to send us 10 seniors,” said Jean Michael Fana, outreach director for the Mayor’s Office. “And if they couldn’t get us 10 seniors, they could of course get other students, but it was up to them how to get those 10 students.”
The schools that sent their students were Lynn English High School, Fecteau-Leary Junior/Senior High School, Lynn Classical High School, KIPP Academy, St. Mary’s High School, and Lynn Vocational Technical Institute.
The city officials separated the schools into groups of two, “so they can meet another school and kind of get to mix up,” said Fana. The students then went around three stations, where they could learn more about the city of Lynn — via City Hall Jeopardy, a Civics Room, and the “Vision of Lynn” station.
“City Hall Jeopardy is to teach them about Lynn government and Lynn fun facts,” said Fana. He said that the Civics Room was for registering people to vote, “because a lot of these kids are now eligible to register or pre-register,” as he put it.
The same room was used to educate the students on the American Rescue Plan Act (ARPA). And the last station was to talk about the ongoing projects in Lynn.
“It’s important for kids to get involved in the government. It starts here,” said City Clerk Janet Rowe, who has spent 23 years in city government.
Her tour for students included showing them historic records dating back to the 1750s when people died from conditions like “cankers.”
Students were sincerely interested in the event, and it even changed some of their perspectives. Lynn Tech senior Naisha Lavalasse’s original outlook on government and politics was that it is “corrupt.” But she said visiting City Hall and listening to public officials offered a different perspective on the public sector than the one she had read and heard about.
KIPP senior Gaby Trejo said her interest in studying history sparked an interest in learning about government. She plans to study economics and finance in college.
“Seeing it for yourself shows you how it actually works,” Trejo said.
Finally, the students got certificates from the mayor as souvenirs to remind them of the event. City Councilor-at-Large Brian LaPierre said Student Government Day is important because the “experience is something you don’t get in the classroom.”
“This is an experience these kids will never forget,” LaPierre said.
