Calexico students earn seat on junior council
CALEXICO — The city of Calexico appears to be grooming its next generation of civic leaders, as evidenced Wednesday by the swearing in of five local students as Junior City Council members.
The opportunity to be seated on the junior council was opened up to Calexico students in an effort to enhance local students’ knowledge of the city’s history and extend them a significant role in the city’s ongoing 110th anniversary celebrations.
“I know that it’s something that I’m going to remember all of my life,” said junior Mayor Sofia Torres.
The 13-year-old Willie Moreno Junior High eighthgrader said she was chosen for her role as a result of an essay she had written describing how much the international boundary between Calexico and Mexicali has changed through the years.
“In the early 1900s it was simple monuments, and now it’s a taller fence,” Sofia said.
Wednesday’s special meeting was replete with an agenda, and resulted in the junior council’s proclamation of April 11 as Junior City Council Day.
The special meeting was the first council meeting that Sofia had ever attended, making it all the more memorable.
“I live in Calexico and it’s an honor to show people how much I love this city,” she said.
Wednesday’s special meeting was also the first time that fellow junior Councilwoman Natalie Trevaskiss had attended a City Council meeting.
The 13-year-old Willie Moreno seventh-grader said she enjoyed the opportunity to find out more about the city’s history and being selected to be on the junior council and sit at the dais at City Hall.
“I thought it was exciting because I never did anything like that before,” Natalie said. “It was a little intimidating because everyone was looking at you.”
Council candidates were asked to write an essay about a historical person, building or pioneering Calexico family in order to be “elected” to the body, a task that Natalie said she was more than glad to undertake.
“We don’t (know) much about Calexico history in my generation,” she said.
Natalie’s maternal forebears arrived in Calexico about 98 years ago, and her mother regularly shares accounts of bygone childhood experiences and the changes that the city has undergone through the years. Natalie had documented some of those changes in a video that she helped produce along with fellow junior city attorney Camilo Garcia Jr., a Calexico High School Ninth Grade Academy student.
The nearly six-minute video, found on YouTube, reflects on the city’s past, present and future, and features narration by both Natalie and Camilo, who invite viewers on an adventure around the city.
Their adventure includes stops at the De Anza Hotel, former Bravo Ranch, the downtown port of entry, Grand Plaza Outlets as well as the Carnegie Library. “I’ve been doing videos since I was five years old,” 13-year-old Camilo said. “It’s just a hobby and a passion that I like to do.”
Camilo said that being on the junior council was a nice fit for him, since he currently is serving as president of the Associated Student Body at his school.
“I like being able to help and lead and be there for the students,” Camilo said. “I’m going to do ASB for all my four years of high school, too.” The current Calexico Junior City Council will be seated for the remainder of the school year, and will be replaced with a new junior council every successive school year, city officials said. Wednesday’s junior council meeting was also followed by a Spirit Parade through downtown as part of the anniversary celebrations.
“We basically went around saying hi to everyone,” Sofia said.