Young members in council

Mayor Vance Badawey welcomed DeWitt Carter Grades 1 and 2 students and their teachers Mrs. Jennifer Laur and Mrs. Angela Brennan to city hall last week. "I bet one of you will be mayor one day," Mayor Badawey told the children during a question and answer session in the council chamber at the end of the tour.

Who was the first mayor

of Port Colborne?

"DeWitt Carter!," a young man answered enthusiastically, pointing to a photo of the city's first mayor, for whom his school is named. Photos of every mayor of Port Colborne are featured outside the council chamber on the third floor of city hall, just outside the mayor's office.

The photo gallery was one of many learning experiences for children in Mrs. Jennifer Laur's Grade 1 class and Mrs. Angela Brennan's Gr. 1/2 class during the tour of city hall by Mayor Badawey the morning of May 27.

They learned about the variety of roles and duties of city hall staff on each floor of the municipal headquarters.

On the first floor: reception, information, community services, business issues, taxation, and bill-paying.

On the second floor: planning and permits, engineering and design, and a really cool collection of old pipes which were salvaged after 100 years under the ground.

On the third floor: the city hall library and meeting room, the mayor's office, the city manager's office, and the council chamber, where elected members of council meet almost every week to make decisions to make Port Colborne so great.

The tour was part of the Literacy and Social Studies curriculum, Mrs. Laur explained, to teach the children the importance of community. "The big idea," she said, "is how every member is an important part of the community," which is exactly what the mayor emphasized to the children. 

The Grades 1 and 2 classes have also visited grocery stores, the fire hall, police station, the public library, the museum and market square.