The Morning Journal (Lorain, OH)
Southview students take over City Hall
Lorain’s City Council chambers are usually filled with city officials, but on April 26, local middle school students filled the seats of council members.
Seven seventh- and eighth-grade students of Southview Middle School arrived at City Hall, 200 W. Erie Ave., to present their community service project to Mayor Chase Ritenauer, Deputy Safety-Service Director Derek Feuerstein, Council President Joel Arrendondo and Sixth Ward Councilman Angel Arroyo Jr..
Students are planning to clean up the
36th Street ditch from Seneca Avenue to Grove Avenue on May 20, but need some help from the city, according to Mike Ferrer of PACE, or Promoting Achievement through Community Education, which is a youth mentoring program that empowers and prepares school-age youth for college and employment opportunities.
One by one, each student gave a small presentation in front of city officials.
“Good morning mayor, president of council and other members of the administration, we are Southview Middle School students representing the ‘231 Go!’ project,” Angelica Rodriguez, 13, said.
Dezirae Marrero, 13, added, “We are here to present to you the second part of our environmental justice project. Our first part of our project was the stray animal project.”
For the first project, students took jars and placed them in every classroom at Southview to raise funds for the Friendship Animal Protective League. As of April 26, students raised $500, according to Anthony Tipton, 14.
Students want to clean the ditch because they take pride in their community, Fernando Medina, 13, said.
“The 36th Street ditch is a place where people throw trash and we want to help our community look like a good and safe place to live,” Fernando said.
Students presented the project with hopes of the city administration helping obtain supplies needed to clean the ditch.
“Some of the supplies we will need: two boxes of gloves, six rakes, a garbage pickup team, 50 trash bags and if possible, the city to block the road,” Alyssa Gonzalez, 12, said.
Although Arroyo will be out of town on the day students plan to clean up, he said he will help the students with additional volunteers. He also donated $100 for lunch on the day of clean up.
Ritenauer and Feuerstein both plan to help the students with their requests.
“I will do everything I can to help out, so you all can be successful with your project,” Feuerstein said.
Ritenauer added, “Thank you for getting involved and helping out the community. We need a lot more people to help out like you all. I always think about what they future will look like and it will look like all of you. I think it’s great what you are doing.”