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Students run the town for a day
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Neighbors | Abby Slanker.Canfield High School senior Jake Tancer, center, who assumed the role of Canfield City Manager Joe Warino, participated in a mock city council meeting during Canfield High School’s 31st annual Civic Day May 6.
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Neighbors | Abby Slanker.Canfield High School seniors conducted a mock city council meeting during Canfield High School’s 31st annual Civic Day May 6..Student Jillian Smith, left, assumed the role of Mayor Bill Kay, student Emily Cestone assumed the role of city council member Marleen Belfiore, Ha Le assumed the role of city council member Andrew Skrobola, Luke Daprile assumed the role of city council member Dan Frazzini and P.J. Hido assumed the role of city council member Steve Rogers.
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Neighbors | Abby Slanker.Canfield city council member Marleen Belfiore, left, coached her student counterpart Emily Cestone during a mock city council meeting for the 31st annual Civic Day May 6.
By ABBY SLANKER
The 31st annual Civic Day, sponsored by the Canfield Rotary, was May 6 with 42 Canfield High School seniors assuming the roles of school, city and township officials.
The day is organized by Canfield High School government teachers Tara Kalina and Mike Pavlansky and provides the students an opportunity to become familiar with how local government operates.
Each student was assigned an official from Canfield City, Canfield Schools or Canfield Township to shadow during the day. For example, Jillian Smith assumed the role of Mayor Bill Kay, Dan Zarlenga assumed the role of Township Trustee Martha Zarlenga and Drew Wellham assumed the role of school board President Anthony Peluso.
The students’ day started at the Canfield Local Schools board office where they conducted a mock school board meeting with their official counterparts.
The school officials helped the students understand how a school board meeting is conducted by explaining policies and procedures for the meeting.
The students then took a tour of Canfield Village Middle School and were given a tour of the police and fire stations. The group went to the Canfield Municipal Building where they held a mock city council meeting, with their counterparts.
The students were coached through a council meeting, complete with motions, questions from meeting attendees, discussions, debates and banging of the gavel.
One hot topic that drew many questions and much discussion was the city’s ban on texting while driving.
They then went to the Canfield Township Hall where a mock trustee meeting was held.
Civic Day came to an end as the Canfield Rotary hosted a luncheon for the students and all officials at St. Michael’s Church. Students read Civic Day Proclamations at the luncheon which they had drawn up during the school board meeting, the city council meeting and the township meeting.