Learning
Weekly Update 4/2/2023 to 4/8/2023 #167
This week, I had several chances to interact with community members of a variety of ages. Before I expand on this thought though, let me share some of my week serving as mayor of the best smalltown in America.
Last month, I received several emails from Mrs. Johnson’s students at Seymour Middle School. The emails were concerns and ideas that the students wanted to share with leaders of the community. While some of those emails went to other leaders, I did get several and offered to come in to speak with them on the topics they had sent to me. I broke them down into four categories: school, roads, city, and private sector. Under schools, we discussed the maintenance of a school-owned property that a few had concerns about and the quality of lunch being served at SMS. Three students had questions about roads so we discussed city streets and state roads and what the city can do when we don’t have control of a state highway. We discussed how much we have worked on over the last three years and various funding sources. Feel free to check out weekly update 165 for more details. https://www.mattforseymour.com/weekly-updates/paid-a-compliment We then talked about some city-related items at the Farmer’s Market before we spent time talking about private investment and how the city fits in on topics like economic development, property maintenance, and even mental health. Before we wrapped it up though, I wanted to make sure I talked about attitude and that staying positive during these conversations was a vital part of the process, and that every person has a passion and is willing to use their passion to be the voice for the projects they care the most about.
The following day, it was time to talk with second graders at Emerson. I visit Mrs. Chase and Mrs. Kiel each year to talk with their students about elections as they read Grace for President by Kelly DiPucchio. We talk about slogans like "Jivvin' with Ivan" and "Jolly with Ollie." We talk about campaign promises and how promising less homework and more recess might not be something the class president has control of and may not be the easiest promise to keep after the election. We also talked about what my role in the city is and how they can be the leaders of tomorrow.
Wrap up the week with several Easter-related items like the Mayor’s Prayer Breakfast and Easter Egg Hunts with Parks and Recreation and Special Olympics and you have rounded out a full week.
Back to that opening thought about varying ages. When I speak with middle schoolers, I can expect a different conversation than what I plan for with a second-grade classroom. That expectation is due to where they are in their education. Middle schoolers have several more years of growth under their belts and are ready for further explanation and often reminds me that the future of our community is much brighter than some give it credit for. Now jump ahead to a meeting with the Mayor’s Youth Council and that brightness shines even more. This week, we walked through several items that different boards have addressed here in the city to see what questions and thoughts they could add to the conversation. While it was just a review of the items, we had a good time exploring different ideas and looking for answers to help them make up their minds as we held mock votes. Every day is a chance to learn and grow. As a child we do it naturally and somewhere as we age some seem to forget that, but as B.B. King said, "The beautiful thing about learning is nobody can take it away from you."