Warwick Community School’s 5th and 6th graders are exploring the concepts of leadership, power, and participation in local government. They recently walked to Warwick Town Hall for their very first Town Meeting.
The students created a warrant, wrote citizens’ petitions, and collected signatures. The articles addressed a variety of issues that are important to students. Superintendent Carole Learned-Miller and Principal Stephen Stroud sent their approval for each article.
“The 5th and 6th graders’ Town Meeting was an ideal example of a culminating experience for a project based learning unit, as it brought together skills and concepts learned from their study of power,” said Superintendent Learned-Miller. “It also aligns with our mission to help students learn how to think critically and advocate to make the world a more just place.”
John Paganetti, Warwick’s town clerk, welcomed the student leaders to Town Hall and helped the students to use Warwick’s 100-year-old ballot box.
The students came prepared with written statements. Approaching the microphone, they stated their name and grade and delivered their statements.
“I will be voting in favor of purchasing additional youth soccer nets for younger players,” announced fifth grader Jordan Romanson. “This could help our school by making the soccer games more safe for little kids.”
Regarding the article “Farm Animals on Campus” proposed by farm teacher Dave Graham, fifth grader Sofia Bauer-Ortiz explained, “I will be voting yes to this. It would be a good way for students to learn about animals up close and you will be able to care for these animals in school, just like in Hogwarts.”
During discussion on the student response to the Six Town Regionalization proposal, 5th grader Hannah Mankowsky posited, “We should not vote for this because our school is super amazing. We have trails and outdoor classrooms, and we even have project based learning. If we vote for this, then who knows what the new superintendent for all the schools might do. They could take it all away and we would maybe just have a math book and pencil in front of us. It would be super boring.”
Sixth grader Mason Bezio added, “If the superdistrict happens, there wouldn’t be as many people from Warwick [on the school committee], who actually hear from the people who go to this school, making the decisions for us. There would only be one person from Warwick out of thirteen, so that’s not a good amount of people who actually know what happens here.”
The students related their Town Meeting experience to the idea of exerting power in their community.
“Voting at Town Meeting is like using power together,” said 5th grader Joseph Smith. “It brings all of us together.”
Fifth grader James Graci agrees. “You have more power in a group than by yourself.”
These students are using their power to create structures that serve their community well, as they’ve seen generations of Warwickians before them do. It’s a Warwick thing.
Nettie Harrington Pangallo is a fifth and sixth grade teacher at Warwick Community School.
