What Can 7th Grade Students' Creativity and Problem Solving Skills Do to Help Local Government?

A local teacher has offered an interesting idea:  Let her 7th Grade Class tackle a tough county issue or two.....

This month is County Government Month.  I'm a bit ashamed to say it, but I did not know this until I was contacted by a teacher late yesterday afternoon who informed me of this.  In her email,  Ms. Amy Parker,  a 7th Grade History teacher at Pensacola's Creative Learning Academy, put forward an interesting idea:

"Dear County Commissioners,

As you know, we are in the midst of County Government Month. Do you happen to have a county problem that my students could research and help problem-solve? I know broadband access has been in the news recently. I am open to just about any subject - jail, public transportation, fire service, etc... I would love for them to research the problem, propose a solution that is within your budgetary parameters, and present their ideas to you. My students are extremely bright 7th graders. 

I recognize this is a big ask, but I want them locally engaged in government in a meaningful way. 

Sincerely,

Amy"

To which I responded:

"Hi Amy-

 Thanks for reaching out and I think this is a great idea!   I’ll work with my aide, Debbie Kenney, to come up with several challenging, real-life scenarios with which we are dealing currently that your students might want to tackle.  As a former school board member who has seen what these young students are capable of—I would not put it outside of the realm of reality that they might have some really creative, out of the box ideas that could help.

 And, they will learn from this exercise as well—which is probably the biggest plus.

 We will send some ideas over by the end of the week for your consideration.

 

Sincerely,

 Jeff Bergosh"

Why not give the students a crack at some tough issues?  Everyone knows the trope about parents going to their 13 year olds to make their technology work.  Many have heard about the CIA and NSA student summer camp where brilliant students crack codes.  Young students today--particularly the exceptional ones--look at things differently than the rest of us that are over 50.  They are creative, they are smart, they work together well, and they think differently about solving problems.  So I will take up Ms. Parker on her idea.

Some Potential Issues for their Consideration?

1.  Homelessness Issue in our community--and the Best way to spend $4 Million to effectively address this chronic problem in a way that is both sustainable and measurable?

2.   Societal/Social Issues in our community and country that lead to a county like Escambia spending more than 90% of its Ad Valorem tax revenues on Law Enforcement and Incarceration/Corrections--what solutions to lower this cost given the current conditions?

3.   Public Transportation:  Necessary according to most but too costly considering the revenue generated and the low number of persons served according to some.  Are there different ways we can serve the transportation-challenged while becoming more efficient and eliminating the reliance on Federal Grants and potentially eliminating or drastically reducing our 4 cent per gallon gas taxation on the citizens?