Politics & Government

'Village President For a Day' Initiative Launches in SOMA Schools

One student a month will be selected to call public meetings to order, lead the pledge of allegiance and attend ribbon-cutting ceremonies.

South Orange Village President Alex Torpey will partner with the South Orange and Mapelewood School District to implement a new program to get students more involved and informed about local government.

Each month, one student will be selected from each of the nine schools to act as village president for the day.

“The program would be to spotlight a young person from a public school, they would come to a meeting, call the meeting to order, lead us in the pledge of allegiance and take part in any other activities like ribbon cuttings that I do,” said Torpey.

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Torpey was vising a class South Mountain Elementary when he was inspired by a third-grader's question, prompting this idea, he said.

“It's an exciting way to get a little bit of what we do out and the kids are all very excited to learn more about civics firsthand,” he added. “I was thrilled with the level of interest and knowledge they had about the process and it's a testament to the teachers in our schools who are doing an excellent job.”

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