Council approves ‘Junior Mayor for the Day Program’

School-aged children in Lehighton will soon have a chance to see how local government works up close and personal.

That’s after borough council unanimously agreed on Monday to approve a request to hold a “Junior Mayor for the Day Program.”

Borough Mayor Clark Ritter, who requested the creation of the program, outlined what the program would entail.

Ritter said the program would allow school-aged kids to see the inner workings of the mayor’s office, police department and borough manager.

He said it would end with them sitting in on a council meeting to see how local government works.

Ritter noted that in January, he, borough Manager Nicole Beckett, and Councilwoman Autumn Abelovsky discussed local government with fourth-graders at Shull-David Elementary School.

He said their visit was received well by the students.

Councilman Ryan Saunders said he believes the program is a “great idea.”

Ritter said that fourth- and fifth-grade students would initially be the focal point of the program.

In February, Ritter held his first “Talk with the Mayor” program in the Lehighton Municipal Building.

That program was designed to be held once a month for residents to meet with Ritter in borough council chambers.

Ritter said that program is a good way to open the lines of communication between the mayor’s office and borough residents.