Several high school students got a taste of local government and held various city employee positions Thursday during the 67th annual Elks National Law Day in Effingham.
The day consisted of tours of the city's police station, sewage treatment plant, fire station and water treatment plant, as well as a luncheon at Effingham Elks Lodge 1016. Then, students from Effingham High School and St. Anthony High School held a mock town hall. Meeting at Effingham City Hall.
Students were assigned to various positions within the city government and met with city officials prior to the meeting to better understand the responsibilities of each official and how City Council meetings are conducted.
During the mock meeting, students discussed and acted on several topics, including requesting $10,000 for a contract with Powerhouse for artificial intelligence software for city government. Adi Nuxor, a St. Anthony High School student who served as city manager during the meeting, said the software will make information more accessible to city staff and residents.
“Organize city files for accurate searches, categorize and tag contracts, and keep your repository organized,” says Nuxoll.
Elle Hohenbury, an Effingham High School student who served as the city's Roads and Public Improvements Commissioner, wondered if this software could somehow compromise city data or be affected by glitches. he asked.
“We're going to put a firewall in place to protect that,” Naxor said.
Ultimately, during a mock meeting, the City Council acted after Effingham High School student Melana Benavidez, the deputy city attorney, informed city officials that the new software contract was not made available to council members. Agreed to raise this issue.
“The resolution is not in the right form,” Benavidez said.
“If we had an AI system, we would have been right,” Nuxol joked.
Also during a mock meeting, the student-led council voted unanimously to accept a $2.1 million quote from Pierce Manufacturing Co. for a new 100-foot heavy-duty aerial ladder truck for the city's fire department. did.
“It's almost 25 years,” said Effingham High School student Max Seachrist, who served as the city's fire chief during the meeting. “We recommend choosing Pierce, the lowest bid that meets all of our needs and will serve the community for years to come.”
Seachrist also said the fire department plans to sell its current ladder truck for about $500,000 and is applying for two grants that will also help cover the cost of a new truck.
At the end of the assembly, each student talked about what Law Day meant to them and what they enjoyed most about Law Day.
“I really liked everything about it. I had never thought about where the water came from, so it was great to see how they do it,” said the city police chief at the mock conference. said Maddie Kibler, a St. Anthony High School student who played the role.
Students also said they enjoyed learning about the day-to-day duties and responsibilities of various city employees and how important each city department is.
“It's great to meet the people who run our city and find out who is working behind the scenes to make sure everything in our city runs well and efficiently.” , said Effingham High School student Colin Ornesor, who served as a commissioner during the event. Mock meeting.
Additionally, several students said their favorite part of Law Day was shooting guns with Effingham police at the shooting range. In fact, Reagan DeLong, a city employee at the mock conference, said she wished she had spent more time at the range that day, but many of the city's employees “don't have much to offer for their work. Very passionate.”
“You don't see that very often, so it was really interesting to hear the stories about why they like to do it,” DeLong said.
Some of the students who participated in this year's Law Day were:
Effingham High School: Elle Hohenbury, Aiden Hanks, Melana Benavidez, Maia Harvey, Tyler Rake, Nathan Ohnesorge, Max Seachrist, Angie Rivera, Faith Bell, Drew Humphland, Regan DeLong.
St. Anthony High School: Katie Wrigley, Joanna Mitchell, Emma Myers, Adi Naxor, Sydney Kibler, Maddie Kibler, Dakota Flieg, Katie Coleman, Elijah Poston, Ethan Kalowix.
