It wasn't Council President Blaine Griffin presiding over Friday's "Cleveland City Council" meeting — it was 13-year-old Myasiah Vanhoose.
The student was part of a group of children from the Cleveland Metropolitan School District's Clara E. Westropp Elementary School gathered in City Council chambers to conduct a mock council meeting. The "legislation," proposed by Ward 17 Council Member Charles Slife, sought to charge a $5 admission fee to city playgrounds.
Some students assumed the role of public commenters, expressing their support or opposition of the measure, while others acted as council members, asking questions and ultimately voting to strike down the proposed ordinance.
"I learned more about law," said eighth grader Gage Terrace. "I’ve grown up in a very political household so I’ve always known a lot about law, but having more information backed up and being in a court is really cool."
This is the second school year that Slife, in tandem with Judge Ann Clare Oakar, held such a field trip.
"We have a City Hall and a Justice Center where things are happening that affect kids lives, and I think kids are excited to come and see these beautiful buildings and learn how laws are passed, learn how trials happen, learn what the mayor does," Slife said. "I think it’s just a great opportunity to hopefully get kids eager to maybe get involved in their community and maybe run for City Council one day."
The students started their day at City Hall, where Slife spoke about how the legislative body of the city works, before moving to the Justice Center in the afternoon, where they conducted a trial on a student failing to complete their homework.
"It's great to show them how government works," said Beth Sery, a K-8 English Language Learner teacher chaperoning the trip. "It was very exciting to see some of the students sharing and asking good questions and their interest level was amazing."
Slife said he hopes to get more schools involved in the future.
"In a perfect world, every Cleveland school kid could come here," he said. "I'm excited to have the kids from Clara Westropp here today, and we're trying to expand this as much as we can."
