Students Get Crash Course in Local Government

Friday was no ordinary day for some students.

In honor of the school’s annual Student Government Day, eighth-graders in Dan Hallahan’s U.S. History class spent May 13 following in the footsteps of several members of Oswego’s village staff and government at .

Besides job shadowing village employees and touring the facilities, students also participated in a mock village board meeting.

Student Dani Snider, who played the role of village administrator during the meeting, was kept busy fielding several questions during the public forum portion from her fellow classmates acting as concerned residents, including what programs were targeted for reduction in the upcoming village budget, how the community can better enforce littering laws and the types of conservation efforts the village is undertaking.

Dani was surprised at how much work goes into the job of Oswego’s interim Village Administrator Dwight Baird.

“I learned I was the person who all the heads of the departments talk to,” she said. “In a way, my role is to keep the peace. And it’s important for a village administrator to be knowledgeable about all the different departments.”

Student Tom Bergan, who acted as Village President Brian LeClercq, enjoyed participating in the mock board meeting.

“I got a lot of insight into how a local government is run,” he said. “I’d never been to a town meeting so it was exciting to learn what goes on.”

He said taking on the village president role was a natural fit for him.

“I like being in leadership positions,” he said.

During the meeting, a question posed in regards to how the village plans to make up a budget shortfall to resurface the roads had the student officials stumped.

Dani referred the question to student Ryan Hennessy, who was acting as Public Works Director Jerry Weaver. From there, Hennessy passed the question to student Cassidy Hartzog, who was playing the role of the village’s Finance Director Mark Horton.

“That issue will be sent to the finance committee for discussion,” Cassidy said, to the laughter of the students.

“Now that’s government,” quipped LeClercq.

Several village trustees and staff were also present at the board meeting to help advise the students.

LeClercq told the students much of the credit for how the village is run goes to the village employees.

“We have some excellent staff that work for our village,” he said. “They do a great job for us.”

He also told students that while the the village board’s role “is to set the direction of the village, the department heads and staff run the day-to-day operations.”

LeClercq praised Hallahan for having his students participate in Student Government Day.

“He is sharing with you an experience some of you may appreciate down the road and learn from,” he said to the students.

Hallahan said he enjoys having his classes participate in Student Government Day activities.

“It takes a classroom lesson and puts it into a real world setting,” he said.

Dani said politics could be in her future.

"Village government maybe,” she said. “But not the federal government.”