A mock city council composed of five Burchfield second graders from Kendall McCarty’s class could face a tough re-election after voting 3-2 on Oct. 4 for everyone to eat chicken nuggets for lunch instead of corn dogs, which went against the wishes of their classmates.
The government class, hosted by Colusa City Councilman Greg Ponciano, is an annual field trip to City Hall, in which mostly 7-year-olds learn about democracy, the function of elected representatives, and the various departments of the city.
“I started this five years ago with just one class to get students to start learning and talking about government,” Ponciano said. “Now we do this every year with the entire second grade. It’s actually pretty cool.”
Colusa City Councilwoman Denise Conrado, a former Burchefield second grade teacher, City Manager Jesse Cain, Chief of Police Josh Fitch, and Fire Chief Logan Conley were also present and participated in the lesson.
Conrado explained the duties of the council, which makes decisions about safety, how to keep the parks nice, and how to spend the money the city gets from taxes.
Second grade classes rotated through council chambers for the 20-minute exercise, each selecting a five-member council to listen to their classmates and make decisions on the choices Ponciano presented to them.
In one mock decision, the second grade city council voted to buy a new police car over a fire truck in keeping with the wishes of their classmates who presented their opinions. The class council also voted 4-1 to buy books for the classroom over an xbox, also in keeping with the wishes of their classroom.
“Sometimes our council has to make decisions, even if they are not what we personally want,” Ponciano told the students. “Even if I really wanted something, but I knew the whole rest of the city wanted something else, sometimes I have to vote for what the people want, not necessarily what I want.”
Ponciano talked to the students about the importance of representative government, and reminded them that in order for city councils to work properly, they must listen to what their constituents have to say – or be subjected to being voted out of office.
“That is why we need to vote for people who think the way we do,” he said. ■