Grade 7 and 8 students from St John Bosco Catholic School in Barry’s Bay attended the Madawaska Valley Township municipal council meeting on Monday.
This was part of a geography project where their teacher, Jordan Norris, had students create a map of Barry’s Bay and then discuss what was working well and what could be improved when it came to land use groups. She says students had positive findings on the fact that the commercial part of town was close to major transportation routes and was accessible to locals. They also came up with realistic improvements to other land use groups such as the waterfront. Each group then wrote a letter with their suggestions to the municipal office. It wasn’t until Monday that the class found out their letters were on the agenda. Norris told us some of the students called their parents in order to get permission to attend the meeting that same night.
Norris adds that her students were surprised and excited when the meeting tackled their suggestions. Mayor Love and some of the Councillors agreed that their concerns were going to be considered.
She also said that overall, the project was successful because it allowed students to critically think about the area they live in.
