Ten Grade 6 students from Erskine School travelled into Stettler on April 9 to witness community government in motion by sitting in on the Stettler County meeting.
There, the 10 students had a chance to witness how municipal politics operated, as well as take in the Stettler RCMP’s community report, which was presented by detachment commander Sgt. Duncan Babchuk and Cpl. Cam Russell.
“They loved it,” Deb Spiller, the school’s principal, said. “They were quite intrigued by how council would run, and they loved the presentation about plants.”
She said the opportunity to witness how community government worked in person was an excellent addition to the in-class study of provincial and municipal government.
One of the things that made the visit especially meaningful to students was how they were able to sit up at the council table with the councillors. As the meeting went on, councillors would speak with the students and answer questions and ask them, engaging students on an entirely different level.
As part of the visit to the council meetings, students were able to visit with Quinton Beaumont, director of agricultural services and Jay Byer, assistant director of agricultural services, to learn about invasive and harmful species of animals, plants, fungi and other detrimental factors to agriculture.
Students had a chance to see several stuffed rodent pests, dried weeds, insects and a formaldehyde-submerged beet suffering from clubroot. After the visit with agricultural services, students joined council for lunch.
Students Joseph Baltimore, Emily Barclay, Avery Chick, Taylor Fornwald, Brooke Laisnez, Isaac Lee, Madison McCrindle, Emma Olson, Connor Robertson and Jordyn Robinson all made the trip to the county meeting.