Ashe High School students attend Civics Day to learn how local government works

By Ron Fitzwater

On Monday morning 42 students from Ashe County High School gathered at the Ashe County Courthouse to

participate in the county's third Civics Day. Presented jointly by Ashe County Government and the education committee of the Ashe County Chamber of Commerce the event is more than just an introduction to local government.

According to county economic development director Dr. Patricia Mitchell the Civics Days are a prelude to bigger and better things for Ashe County students who study government.

"We are trying to develop a student leadership program to be named for long-time chamber member Dick Miller who retired after 30 years on the board. But until we get that going, Civics Day fills the bill," Mitchell said.

The popularity of the event with educators and students, Mitchell said, grew quickly because of the positive results after the first one.

"We initially did one last year but school officials said that the students who had gone through it in last falls semester had performed better on tests and in the classroom in the community unit they were doing so the school asked us if we could do another one last spring and we did," Mitchell said.

Monday's event began at the courthouse where students heard from county and municipal officials.

Jenny Risk, one of the civics teachers escorting the students, said that the program was a wonderful addition to the civics curriculum.

"Today we have 42 students who are taking 'Civics and Economics' this semester. The class is a tenth grade course required by the state board of education." The students are brought here to the court house and experience local government as part of our standard course of study, and they will be tested on it," she said.

The personal interaction with government officials is an effective way to teach the students according to Risk. "This is so much better and informative for the students to hear from these officials rather than sitting and listening to me just tell them what a county manager does or a commissioner does," she said.

Risk said that the proof of the program's effectiveness can be found in the fact that ACHS civics students scored higher than all surrounding counties with the exception of Watauga County that scored a tenth of a point higher than Ashe in the last testing.

"I think this event has a great impact on the students. To actually see local government in action makes an impact. This is the closest form of government to them. If they know what is available to them what services they can take advantage of, where their taxes will go when they begin paying them and who is making the decisions that impact their lives, the better citizens they will be," Risk said.

Guest speakers appearing before the students included Ashe County Board of Commissioners Chairman Richard Blackburn, County Manager Dan McMillan, West Jefferson Town Manager Greg McGinnis, Cabot Hamilton, Executive Director of the Ashe County Chamber of Commerce, Sheriff James Williams, Clerk of Superior Court Pam Barlow and John Shepherd, Ashe County Director of Elections.

As well as the presentations at the courthouse on local governmental operations, the students traveled to Family Central for lunch and to learn about human service agencies and to Blue Ridge Electric to learn about sustainable energy.

"We want them to learn as much as they can about community leadership and different things in the community. This is done to show the students how being involved and knowing more about the community makes them better citizens," Mitchell said.

Student Allen Reed said that the event was very helpful to the students and more than just a day out of the classroom.

"Its never bad getting a day out of the classroom, but I was really excited about coming here and learning about what goes on. Being only 15, 16 years old you don't really know what it is they do here. It is nice to have the chance to come up here and hear what the people who run things have to say," he said. Additionally, Reed said he was really excited to know that "they have murder trials here. I thought that stuff went to a higher court. It was really a great opportunity."

The students recently had another learning opportunity outside of the classroom. On election day the students were able to visit the West Jefferson precinct and observed the process of citizens casting their votes. Risk said that the level of excitement of the students when they returned to the classroom was wonderful. "Many of them kept saying they can't wait till the next election so that they can vote," she said.