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CHC students get lesson in government
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Neighbors | Abby Slanker.Mahoning County Juvenile Justice Center Magistrate and Court Administrator Anthony D’Apolito visited C.H. Campbell Elementary School fourth-graders to talk about his job as part of the students learning about government Nov. 2.
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Neighbors | Abby Slanker.Laura Lonardo, director of female programming and KIND, Kids In Need of Direction, director, at the Mahoning County Juvenile Justice Center, spoke to C.H. Campbell Elementary School fourth-grade students about her job and what it entails Nov. 2.
By ABBY SLANKER
Fourth-grade students at C.H. Campbell Elementary School welcomed two special visitors in an effort to learn more about government on Nov. 2.
Mahoning County Juvenile Justice Center Magistrate Anthony D’Apolito and Laura Lonardo, director of female programming and KIND, Kids In Need of Direction, director, spoke to the students about their jobs at the Mahoning County Juvenile Justice Center.
Fourth-grade teacher Dana Zarlenga-Buist introduced D’Apolito and Lonardo to the students. D’Apolito then started the presentation by explaining that he is also the juvenile court administrator.
“I am very interested to find out what you know about government, so let’s get started,” D’Apolito told the students. “My job as court administrator is comparable to your principal’s job. I oversee the detention center like he oversees your school,” D’Apolito said. D’Apolito went on to describe his job as magistrate to the students.
“My job is to help the kids who don’t have love and support at home. I try to help put them on the right path. My role is to teach a young person something that I think they are lacking so when they become adults, they can be well-respected, happy and well-adjusted. I try to help people, both kids and families, every day,” D’Apolito said.
D’Apolito also touched on bullying.
“The kids who help others are the ones who grow up to be magistrates, teachers, police officers and principals. They become leaders. They are the ones who stand up for themselves and for kids who can’t stand up for themselves,” D’Apolito said.
D’Apolito then introduced Lonardo to discuss bullying further, as she deals with the issue on a daily basis.
“You can relate bullying to the story in the Wizard of Oz. In the beginning, Dorothy is being bullied by the woman who wants to take away her dog, Toto, which forces her to run away. The story goes on to show how the characters help one another and stand up for each other and all the people come together to help Dorothy,” Lonardo said.
Lonardo went on the explain to the children that she also tries to help kids who have troubles at home and focuses on their families, too. She explained the KIND Department works quite a bit with the court and community.
Both D’Apolito and Lonardo shared stories of cases they have worked on and gave several examples of what they deal with everyday.
At the end of the presentation, the students had time to ask questions. The students came prepared with lots of questions for both D’Apolito and Lonardo, with many focusing on D’Apolito’s power to sentence the juveniles.
“What is the fair thing to do is sometimes the hardest thing for me to figure out,” D’Apolito said.