The Morning Journal (Lorain, OH)
Mayor answers letters from students
Second-grade students at Avon East Elementary School practiced democracy May 15 by chatting with Mayor Bryan Jensen on ways to improve the city.
Teacher Jean Schenkelberg’s students recently wrote letters to Jensen and he responded in person.
Some of the ideas presented by the students encouraged the city to crack down on littering and promoting more environmentally friendly policies along with questioning whether City Council would consider a moratorium on donut restaurants.
“You can see from the size of me, I’ve had a couple of donuts,” Jensen said, explaining the city’s role in balancing development with growth.
Students Reese O’Reilly and Olivia Tibbits both encouraged the mayor to invest in an animal shelter.
Eight year-old Brock Raybuck summed up the opinions of students in a letter.
“Our class wants to make Avon a clean and healthy place to live,” Brock wrote.
He added, “We should stop building stores and buildings.”
Schhenkenberg said the students have been writing letters all year.
And in their lessons about science, nature and environmentalism, they wanted to reach out to the city’s top executive directly with some of their bold plans, she said.
“Several of the children said, the fines should be at least $1,000,” Schelekberg said. “And it’s cute because it’s not my doing and they wanted to write you.
“They loved learning about Earth Day and recycling. It’s the power of the pen. They wanted to write you and talk to you about that. They are noticing litter as our community develops.”
The students also expressed interest in transitioning the Avon Duct Tape Festival into an Earth Day theme, promoting environmentalism, echoing concerns about commercial development in the area and the lack of green space.
Responding to one letter writer about pollution in the city, Jensen expressed optimism and added it is important to him for people to enjoy city parks and be proud of them.
“The one thing I did notice from you is cleaning up of the city and the fines,” he said. “There was no problem from you at all with raising them up to $1,000 to $2,000 fines.
“And I was proud of that. That tells me how important it is to you to keep our streets clean.”
Jensen encouraged the students to continue their civic engagement and reminding them that leadership often is about compromises and finding the right balance.
“Some of the things that make the city of Avon great also sometimes can hurt the city because people want to move to the city of Avon and they want to be a part of the city,” Jensen said. “So, we have to kind of mix things back and forth.”