(Lynn, MA) On April 5th, a group of six KIPP Academy Lynn College students from a US History II class were invited to the annual Lynn Student Government Day! Student Government Day takes place yearly at Lynn City Hall when the Mayor’s office invites top students from the highschools in Lynn to learn more about how municipal government works through a civic action problem.
This year, the civic action problem was to propose a plan for Lynn to spend $1 million out of the approximate $75 million that Lynn received as part of the American Rescue Plan Act (ARPA).
To prepare for the visit, KALC students prepared by coming to a consensus about their proposal for how to spend the money. While at City Hall, students heard addresses from public officials, learned more about Lynn’s community based approach to determine how to spend the ARPA money, and played a round of trivia against other high schools.
All of the students at City Hall came together for a mock city council meeting. Each school in attendance had a representative who presented their school’s proposal for the money to the chamber. Students were given time to negotiate between each of the wards (schools) and come to a consensus about what Lynn’s priorities should be and how to allocate the money. Mayor Nicholson, members of Lynn City Council, and members of the Lynn School Committee listened in on the negotiations to learn more about what students believed should be prioritized.
A special shout out to KIPP Academy Lynn Collegiate history teachers, Andrew Hedberg and Brian Kmec and KALC principal, Shauna-Kaye Clarke, who supported the students in this event.
Of the trip, Mr. Kmec says: “It was great to see our students use what they are learning in our classrooms to make a positive impact on the city. I know that our mayor and council members were very impressed. We all had a blast!”
Way to go, KALC! To view photos from the event, click here.
