Eastern High School Students Impressed

By Cynthia Ward

The third LSJ Meet the Candidates Forum was held on October 10, 2017 at Eastern High School. This was an opportunity for city residents to meet and hear from candidates for city council at large and mayoral candidates. Forums for Ward 2 and Ward 4 candidates were held the prior week at Everett High School (October 2, 2017) and Sexton High School (October 3, 2017), respectively. As I did with the other forums, I arrived to Eastern High School about 30 minutes early so that I could position myself to collect signatures from likely city voters. However, this time my arrival was met with Eastern High School students. Eastern High School administrators did not only provide a venue for the forum, they involved the students. There were students from Dr. James Bell’s Government class who welcomed guests and escorted them into the school. The students also sat in and listened to the candidate discussions. They even prepared a pamphlet with questions that mattered to them such as:

• Why did you decided to get into politics?
• What do you believe your strengths are? How will they benefit our community?
• In your opinion, is the Lansing Promise sustainable? Why or why not?

Eastern High School Principal Marcelle Carruthers was present and engaged as well. I was able to collect a few signatures as folks arrived and I greatly enjoyed watching the students in action. While waiting, a student captured this photo of me. Thanks, Dr. Bell, for sharing!