On Tuesday, October 20, a Town Hall will be held in the Garrett PAC for candidates of the Garrett-Keyser-Butler CSD School Board ahead of November 3’s Election Day. The event is scheduled for a 6 p.m. start on the 20th.
This Town Hall carries with it the uniqueness that it has been a student lead endeavor, planned by students who are part of Shannon Swonger’s Education Pathway class at Garrett High School.
Students Gabryelle Kline, Emma Dunning, Stephanie Lovett, Nathaniel Gaerte, Taya Stahly, Adrianne LeQuia, Apollo Adair and Kiely Bennett have all played roles in the planning and development of the Town Hall and all will be participating in the operation of the event on October 20. At-Large Candidates Luke Ice (Incumbent) and Steven Kelham (Challenger), as well as City of Garrett Open Seat Candidates Travis Gaar and Cherrie Wells will all be in attendance to participate; City of Garrett candidate Brianne Haiflich is unable to attend.
Per the students planning the event, this Town Hall is focused on vision, not policy.
“The purpose of this Town Hall is to strive to understand each Candidate’s vision as a potential school board member, not to debate policy,” and official statement from the group says. “The GKB school board members have the primary responsibility to handle personnel, manage finances, and implement district policies. During this Town Hall, we are diving into what the candidates feel the future of GKB could look like.”
Kline, one of the moderators, has been instrumental in fine tuning the questions for the event and taking the lead in the actual inquiries for each of the candidates. Included in that were meetings with Swonger and GHS Principal Kyle Wood to vet the questions that will be asked at the Town Hall.
“I’m really excited to listen to, not only their answers, but how they answer it, how well spoken they are in front of an audience and if they actually know their stuff or if they are reading off notes,” Kline said of what she most looks forward to as a student at the Town Hall.
Dunning, the other Moderator for the event, who completed her dual credit work in the Education pathway last year, currently serves as a Cadet Teacher.
“They are actual people that we know. Elections are usually huge people that I wouldn’t even think of,” Dunning said of what she has felt is most unique during the planning process.
“It is a reminder of how small Garrett really is,” Kline added of knowing the candidates.
Several of the candidates met with the students during the event’s planning.
On the night of the Town Hall, Kline and Dunning will act as Moderators for the event, Lovett will be the timer for the question-and-answer portion and Bennett will operate the lights and stage with the assistance of J.E. Ober Elementary teacher Kelly Gomes. Meanwhile Gaerte, Stahly, LeQuia and Adair will all act as assistants to individual candidates as well as introduce the candidate they are assisting to the audience in attendance.
“It makes me feel more involved in my school,” said Adair. “Just something I have been wanting to do for a long time.”
The event is scheduled to begin with the Pledge of Allegiance and a welcome at 6 p.m. with each candidate planned to answer eight questions that have been developed by the Education Pathway students. Closing remarks are tentatively scheduled for 7:45 p.m.
“I am really excited to see these guys get involved in the civic political process,” said Swonger. “We’ve done lessons about what a school board does and what they don’t do, and they have learned a lot. I think it is important that they learn about what a school board does because it is going to affect their future as teachers.”
Pictured: Education Pathway Students running GKB School Board Town Hall (from left to right): Nathaniel Gaerte, Gabryelle Kline, Apollo Adair, Emma Dunning, Taya Stahly and Stephanie Lovett.