A group of Cape Elizabeth third-graders rejected a new ice rink proposal over potential environmental damage, in a 15-5 mock town council vote ending a two-week lesson in the workings of local government Thursday.
Students and teachers at Pond Cove Elementary School have held mock council meetings for more than five years, as part of their lessons about local government.
The seven third-grade classes studied elements of Cape Elizabeth’s government, learning the difference between a town manager and a mayor, and the roles of various groups and people, including the town council, school board and superintendent.
Students in teacher Janet Amberger’s class acted as the council, while students in three classes argued in favor of the ice rink and three argued against. The councilors were coached on how to respond to potential arguments from the citizens and also what kinds of questions were appropriate to pose to those arguments.
Amberger discussed with her students the importance of going into the meeting with an open mind. “The first time we talked about it, they all had opinions. … I told them they could not have their minds made up in advance,” she said.
Students played the roles of hockey parents, players and coaches at the meeting all appealing to the council to pass the proposal for an Olympic-sized indoor ice rink on the site of the pond at Lions Field off Route 77. The building would also include a snack bar, and space for a Zamboni, and would have required the filling of the pond.
They cited traveling reasons as their primary concern. Because there is no rink in Cape, parents of players must drive to North Yarmouth Academy or Falmouth for practice, which drains their gas budgets.
A student representing the Maine Audubon Society was also there, telling councilors that the pond animals would no longer have a place to live if the pond was drained, and students acting as concerned neighbors spoke about increased traffic because of the rink.
Amberger said the need to fill the pond drove the proposal’s rejection. Though the revenue from the rink would have eventually paid for its upkeep, the increase in taxes for the multi-million-dollar project didn’t justify the benefits for the mock council.
Typical citizen responses about the cost of the rink also arose. Students questioned whether it was fair for them to pay for the rink if they didn’t have kids and would not use the rink. And they discussed other consequences of building on Lions Field like the availability of parking for the adjacent baseball field.
One of Amberger’s students anticipated the role as councilor with distaste. This student experienced the catch 22 of political life; you can’t make everybody happy. Amberger paraphrased her students’ sentiments saying, “‘I don’t want to be on the council because whichever way I vote, someone will be mad at me.'”
Not all students felt that conflict. Teacher Ren Wilkinson, council moderator and creator of the hypothetical proposal said, “Half of them were terrified and half of them said ‘how come I didn’t get to speak?'”
Jacob Downer became Councilor Downer last Thursday afternoon as he sat and debated the pros and cons of constructing a hypothetical ice rink in Lions Field. Pond Cove Elementary School hosted a mock council meeting in which the entire third grade participated. Janet Amberger’s third grade class acted as the council and third grade teacher Ren Wilkinson moderated the meeting.
Grady McCormick a student in Janet Amberger
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