OHS seniors take charge on Government Day

Apr. 7—OXFORD — Wednesday proved to be an active day in Oxford as the City Council passed a resolution forcing students into jail if they did not abide by the new seven-days-a-week school calendar and two beloved Oxford High faculty members were arrested and taken for trial to the municipal court.

That's what happens when high school seniors take control of city government for a day and are allowed to have a little fun as they see the workings of city government up close and personal.

The annual Government Day allows Oxford High School seniors to run for all the positions of city government — more than 60 positions from mayor to court jurors.

During the day, the students shadow those positions, pass resolutions during a mock City Council meeting and even force two unsuspecting OHS faculty members to face "charges" during a mock trial at municipal court.

It has become a tradition embraced by both city officials and OHS seniors alike.

"The earliest we can find a reference to it is in yearbooks dating back to 1955," said OHS Instructional Technology Specialist Adam Clark who has managed the day for the past five years.

The day begins early with a group session followed by job shadowing and a visit to the East Metro Area Crime Center.

Students return to City Hall where their elected council members and mayor participate in a council meeting in the council's chambers.

On this occasion, the Government Day council unanimously passed five resolutions.

One approved the creation of what they called the "Summit East Experience" near the Oxford Exchange and confirmed the Native American burial grounds would not be disturbed by its development. The resolution was not specific as to what the new development would contain.

Another resolution called for putting a recycling center near Quintard Mall. A third resolution called for the construction of an amphitheater on Leon Smith Parkway and a fourth resolution approved the establishment of bicycle lanes.

The fifth resolution brought about some loud disagreements from the audience as it called for a change in the school calendar requiring attendance seven days a week with jail time as the penalty for three absences.

"I think they put that last one in there for fun just to see if they would need to have someone removed for disrupting the meeting," said Council President Chris Spurlin, who mentored the OHS council members.

"I love seeing our kids showing an interest in how our city operates and hopefully it will spark an interest in them that after college they would come back to our city and be involved in government," Spurlin said. "This day opens up all our departments and shows them exactly what we do here while having some fun as they do it."

Some of the seniors who were serving as police officials quickly left the council meeting and headed for the OHS campus where two faculty members were surprised to be "arrested" and taken to the city municipal court for a trial.

Baseball coach Wes Brooks and chemistry instructor Jennifer Dasinger were loaded into a police SUV and, with lights and sirens, taken to the municipal courtroom where the other students awaited to watch the trial.

Brooks was "charged" with violating child labor laws and featured testimony by the prosecution from one of his players and by the defense from his daughter.

Dasinger was charged with selling chemical weapons to other countries with one piece of evidence showing empty plastic bottles the prosecution claimed were hidden in her classroom.

All four attorneys, the jury and the judge were Government Day seniors and played from a script they put together which had all the styling and good humor of a situation comedy loaded with inside jokes only the kids and the teachers would understand.

The day ended with a luncheon at the Oxford Civic Center where OHS Principal Heath Harmon told the group he had known them all since their elementary school days.

"When you were at C.E. Hanna, you met in the gymnasium and walked down the hall," Harmon reminded the students. "I got to see everybody every single day in the fifth grade. I am super proud of you."

"Every school does not have the opportunity to participate in a Government Day," Harmon said. "They might have some type of thing similar, but not like this. This is a major commitment by our school, our city mayor and his staff. This is a big deal. I want to be sure they know we appreciate this city's staff for making this happen."

Craft said he appreciates having the opportunity for the students to experience first hand the workings of city government.

"They really do take this seriously," Craft said. "Chris [Spurlin] told me they didn't come in with the attitude of just getting out of school for a day. They really wanted to know how to do it and were really interested."

Craft said the students, through activities such as Government Day and Vision 1, "continuously impress us with their ideas, what they want and how they want to be involved."

"The more we allow them to be involved the more really great ideas we get from them," Craft said. "I appreciate everything these young folks do."

Staff Writer Brian Graves: 256-236-1551.