Letter to the Editor

Dear Editor:

Mayor Danny Ortega, Jr., and members of the Douglas City Council are to be congratulated for the great learning experience they gave to Sarah Marley Elementary School students at the mock city council meeting of January 18,2013 held in the City Hall Council Chamber. And the teachers and staff at Sarah Marley are also to be congratulated for the exemplary attention and respect for this experience shown by their students as observed by adults present.

The students who were the mayor-and-council-for-a-day worked through a realistic agenda with "Pledge of Allegiance," invocation, roll call and a "Call to the Public''. The agenda featured "issues," topics of concern to them as elementary school students. Mayor, Council members, city staff and school staff who worked hard to bring about this event and prepare the students observed that students used the proper form of address and were respectful when they participated as the public and spoke from the audience as constituents about agenda items.

The students' positive reactions told the immeasurable value of their experience as life-long learning.

The reporting of the event by The Douglas Dispatch reporter Ms. Trish Maldonado conveyed the enthusiasm of the students who participated, and the many pictures the newspaper displayed were each "worth a thousand words". That article is the basis for the appreciation expressed in this letter.

Their learning experience in democracy and the workings of self-government portends well for these students.

Sincerely,

Mike Nava

Douglas