Kids get elementary look at politics

Jeff Benson

Eleven sixth-graders at Newport and Newport Heights elementary

schools are about to get their first real-life lessons in local

government.

Mayor Tod Ridgeway and other city officials will hold a public

meeting Monday afternoon with the newly formed Newport Beach Assn. of

Student Councils in City Council chambers.

The purpose of the meeting is to encourage students to format

their council meetings similar to those of local government, Ridgeway

said.

Teachers at the two schools formed the association earlier this

year to enable Newport-Mesa Unified School District elementary

schools to share leadership ideas and information, said teacher Nancy

Lester, who serves as the Newport Elementary council advisor.

The association will likely branch out to other local schools

after this year, she said.

“We just wanted the two schools to get together because we thought

it would be beneficial for them to see how city government works, and

also to bounce ideas off of each other,” Lester said.

“Basically, I really want to promote community service.

“It’s in the high schools and junior high schools, and we want it

down at the elementary level.”

The new board is made up of presidents, vice presidents,

secretaries and treasurers from each school council as well as a

historian, news editor and bulletin board coordinator.

They’ll tell the mayor about their schools’ fundraisers and

community outreach programs and suggest solutions to challenges at

each campus.

Ridgeway plans to introduce the students to one another and field

their questions about city government at the end of the hour-long

meeting, he said. City Manager Homer Bludau and Newport Beach

spokeswoman Marilee Jackson will also attend the proceedings.

“I’ll talk briefly about what the city provides, what City Council

does and what they think their role as an elected representative is,”

Ridgeway said.

“The kids are all charged up about this.

“They’ve got all these ideas -- probably none of which would fly

-- but you really want to encourage that discussion.”