Middlefield High School Student Pens Book On Local Government

MIDDLEFIELD, CT — When Coginchaug Regional High School senior Diya Patel noticed a lack of local government content in her social studies classes, she made a surprising decision: She wrote a book to fill in the gap.

Patel's book "America Starts Local: A Student Guide on Government and Politics" was released in August. She'll be discussing the book at the Levi Coe Library in Middlefield on Oct. 19 at 5:30 p.m.

Patel said she's been working on the book for three or four years. While American government courses often focus on the national government, she said that state and local governments don't receive as much attention.

She said that's unfortunate because state and local governments often play a larger role in people's lives than the national government. Learning about how local government works can help students become good citizens, according to Patel.

Patel interned at Durham Town Hall where she "got to see (local government) up close and personal." There she interviewed local officials about their roles, which she used in her book.

She noted that the local government often facilitates interactions between citizens and the national government. If citizens have a problem, it's up to the state and local governments to facilitate these conversations, she said.

Patel said she intends for the book to be used in social studies classrooms. One of her teachers was very receptive when she told them about the book and wanted to use it in an American Citizenship class.

Patel plans on reaching out to educational administrators in Connecticut and beyond to find a wider audience. She said it's more important that the ideas—the importance of local government and citizenship—are recognized than the book itself.

She also started a podcast, Breaking Bounds, in 2021 at a time when she said the news had become "heartbreaking and toxic." She said that the goal of the podcast is to facilitate conversations between people on both sides of the political aisle while covering news in an unbiased way.

Juggling a podcast, a recently published book, and applying to colleges might sound like a lot, but Patel says she's "not someone who can sit still for very long."

"I love what I do, so it doesn't feel like a job," she said. "It's a fun process for me."

"America Starts Local: A Student Guide on Government and Politics" is available for purchase on Amazon.

Her podcast Breaking Bounds can be found here.

More information on the event at the Levi Coe Library is available here.