Chesterfield County Public Schools students experienced local government firsthand Nov. 12-13 during Model County Government. About 60 students representing every high school shadowed school and county leaders. The program is a partnership between the school system and the Chesterfield County Community Engagement and Resources Office.
Connecting classroom knowledge with real-life experiences, the program kicked off at the Nov. 12 School Board meeting, where students watched the board conduct business. The next day, students shadowed local leaders in the morning then attended a Board of Supervisors meeting in the afternoon.
Dr. Lynne Bland, CCPS curriculum specialist for secondary social studies, thanked teachers for their dedicated work to organize the Model County Government opportunity in their schools. “To maintain a thriving democracy, each generation should know how pieces and parts come together to make it work,” she said. “One way to do this is through hands-on experiences with local government by allowing high school seniors to get a taste of the real-world opportunities that await them after graduation. Wouldn’t it be great if they all came back to live and work in our Chesterfield community?”
