Encinitas City Hall

WholeClassHow fortunate we are to have Encinitas City Hall so close to our school and an elected council member as a parent in our class! Thanks to Catherine Blakespear’s encouragement, we had an amazing field trip to city hall full of learning!

In preparation for this educational opportunity, we had discussed the most current issue on the council’s agenda that week: skateboarding helmets. We have many avid skateboarders in our class, and though the majority of the skaters at the new Encinitas community park skate without helmets, most of our students were adamant that helmets are essential for safety (whew!). We read an article in the Encinitas Advocate on ticketing helmetless skaters, as well as several letters sent to the city council addressing both sides of the issue. It was interesting to hear from both the sheriff’s department and life-long skaters. In developing and honing our own opinions, it’s important to not only have a personal feeling, but also listen with the intent to understand the issues and concerns on both sides.

Eight students were selected to be on our mock city council for our mock council meeting (the eight represented both the city council and the youth commission). The selected council’s job was to listen to both sides of the issue, while many in our class got on the microphone to express their concerns as citizens. We had many brave MAC students (and parents!) who expressed their opinions and reasons. At the end of the “public comment” section, the council members took turns saying which side of the issue he/she would be voting for and, more importantly, the reason for their vote.

We appreciate Catherine Blakespear for taking time out of her busy schedule to give us a tour around city hall and guide us through the mock meeting. Students walked away from the experience, not only excited about our local government, but with an understanding that they have a voice in the city’s decision-making process (true story: kids are allowed to speak at city council meetings).

And as if the field trip wasn’t exciting enough, we had our very own mayor, Kristen Gaspar, greet us and announce that our class won one of the categories for the Love My City Youth Video contest! How exciting! (scroll to the bottom to watch the video) Also, congratulations to Max’s sister, Stella, who won in the individual category (scroll down to watch her video as well).

GroupMayorCatherine

Stella’s Video

Our video

 

 

 

2 thoughts on “Encinitas City Hall

  1. Wow! What a thrilling experience for you all and a wonderful lesson about how decisions are made in our community. I appreciate hearing that children are allowed to speak at City Council meetings. That’s a great idea and hopefully you will all use your new knowledge to speak out about other topics that are important to you. Perhaps a few of you will run for local government one day? Awesome!

    P.S. Loved Stella’s video too!

  2. Great learning experience. What an outstanding field trip. Congratulations on the video contest! Keep up the good work, kids!

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