Morning Minute: Tuesday, April 23, 2019

News About Town: Now that Alta Planning and Design, the consultant for the Downtown Mobility Study, has started work, Alta is seeking insight. The Town has posted a Survey and a Map, two methods to better understand design needs from citizens’ vantage point. The Map is a visual method to provide input while the survey consists of a few quick questions; both ask about pedestrian, bicyclist, and transit needs in the downtown area.

Perhaps the perfect spot for a selfie? Where’s that bench?

News Around Town:  With CMS schools closed on May 1, various Mecklenburg County Park and Rec centers have special day-long camps planned. Typically camps are priced between $10 and $25. There are no county rec centers in Matthews (Crews Road is Town-run), but perhaps there is a location near your place of work. Find the closest center and call to see what they have planned.

One Fun Thing: Join Habitat and Wildlife Keepers (HAWK) this Saturday (April 27) for an Earth Day Celebration at Squirrel Lake Park. The festivities run from 10 a.m. until 1 p.m. Plenty of vendors will have activities for the whole family, Coca Cola will have free rain barrels, and Ranger Rick will be standing by for photo ops. This one, without a doubt, tops the Crunchy Feely-Meter in all the best ways possible.

From the Schools: How Students are Becoming More Politically Involved

Student involvement is significant for this reason: the next generation of Matthews’ leaders, who may now be sitting in a math class, could one day be elected to Town Council.

On January 28th, the annual Charlotte Women’s March rallied up in Charlotte, North Carolina, with participants holding up slogans and attentively listening to the day’s speakers. This was a community of people coming together to raise awareness about their concerns regarding equal rights. What many may have been surprised to see was the large amount of student-aged participants at the March.

“I was blown away by the amount of people under the age of 18 who attended.” said Carmel Christian senior, John. “It was so cool to see and meet people who were forming their own opinions about real issues and being passionate enough to make a stand,” he said.

Now more than ever, students in Matthews, North Carolina, have the means to become more politically aware and involved within their community.

“It was so cool to see and meet people who were forming their own opinions about real issues and being passionate enough to make a stand.”

— John, high school senior

With the recent shooting at David W. Butler High School, conversation about gun control has been amplified locally. “I wanted to do something with all the intense emotions I was feeling about what happened and to turn my anger into something productive,” said Butler High School junior, Hope, explaining her response to the shooting. Because of her desire to make her voice heard, Hope took the initiative and reached out to a representative through NCgv.org, an organizational group against gun violence in North Carolina. Once a meeting is facilitated, she will be able to formally discuss her concerns regarding gun-control with a Country Representative.

In light of Hope’s actions to make a difference, a similar trend has been seen of student participation within the political world, a realm that has been traditionally occupied by adults. Mecklenburg County Commissioner in district six, Susan McDowell-Rodriguez, has noticed this upswing of student involvement. “I have gotten to speak to kids at Butler, Providence, and South Meck {high schools}.” she said. Following the Parkland shooting, Rodriguez notes that, “like the kids in Parkland who raised awareness, the kids in Charlotte-Mecklenburg have {raised awareness} as well.”

Photo by Joanna Albanese Schimizzi

Within her role as County Commissioner, she has witnessed how students have helped at organizational and precinct meetings by “handing out literature, going door to door- things like that.” According to Rodriguez, the types of students who are getting involved are a mixed bag. “I think it has been a lot of females, there are a number of guys as well, but it’s about 60/40.... all different kinds of kids,” she said.

The question posed to Rodriguez is, can the students who are getting involved actually make a real impact? The most effective way that students can be recognized, according to Rodriguez, is, “when kids show up for stuff and ask questions at Town Council meetings- {the students} who have researched and thought about issues- I think it’s super powerful,” she said.

As well, Rodriguez believes that students play a large role in reminding those of voting age the significance of their vote. “Kids can be very powerful with reminding adults about things concerning the future, like gun control and the environment,” she said. The overall benefit of student involvement is that is it adds to the amount of people who genuinely care about politics. “I think anytime we can get people more involved, it is a good thing- starting them young is great because it increases participation in the future.” Rodriguez said.

“I think anytime we can get people more involved, it is a good thing- starting them young is great because it increases participation in the future.”

— Susan Rodriguez McDowell

As a final note, Rodriguez emphasizes that one of the most important things a student can do is to, “combat apathy,” meaning to fight against an attitude of not caring. “A lot of people are apathetic about politics- they think, ‘oh well,’ and lose interest,” said Rodriguez. A way to change this attitude is to have open conversations about politics. For students, they should have those important discussions about more serious topics, like gun control. “Tell them why things matter to you- they [will] think about things differently,” she said.

“It’s about the future and it’s about these kids who are coming up,” concludes Rodriguez. Student involvement is significant for this reason: the next generation of Matthews’ leaders, who may now be sitting in a math class, could one day be elected to Town Council. We should recognize the power of the student voice, as it is the voice of tomorrow.

#ThrowbackThursday: February 22, 2007

With permission, The Beacon is archiving past issues of Matthews Record (also called Matthews News and Record and The Matthews Record) articles online. Throwback Thursday articles will include relevant content still facing Matthews today. This story was originally published February 22, 2007 and was written by Janet Denk.

CMS Learning Communities, construction discussed

Former Butler principal Joel Ritchie, who was named the first area superintendent of Charlotte-Mecklenburg Schools last month, was back on his old stomping grounds last Monday.

Not in the Butler Bulldog pen, but rather at Town Hall, delivering information about the Charlotte-Mecklenburg Schools’ decentralization plan. He was joined by CMS executive director of Facilities Planning and Real Estate, Mike Raible, who talked about construction.

Decentralization

CMS will decentralize into six geographic areas based on growth projections and municipal and neighborhood boundaries. Each area ranges from 17,000 to 25,000 students. The initial cost estimate for the decentralization and establishment of area offices is about $8 million. The goal is to help each school become more closely aligned with the community it serves, and it will put resources and administration closer to parents and other members of the public. An area superintendent will lead each of the six areas, dubbed learning communities. A seventh area, called the Achievement Zone, contains 10 schools with low test scores and high needs.

Construction

The school system needs $2.5 billion for construction over the next decade to keep up with explosive growth and enrollment, according to CMS officials.

The two main proposals are where to spend the money and how to build the schools. Superintendent Peter Gorman is calling for building more suburban schools and fewer renovations closer to the center city. A panel that included educators, designers, and contractors recommended about 75 ways to save money. Some of the cuts are sore spots for different areas - for instance - having high schools share football stadiums and auditoriums.