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Middle school students become honorary city leaders for a day
Three students from Hacker Middle School earned once-in-a-lifetime opportunities to become city leaders for a day.
During an award ceremony May 5, Miya Ingram was selected as the Mountain Home's honorary police chief while Kaydan Winnings became the city's honorary fire chief.
A new tradition also began this year after Tyler Berg was named Mountain Home's mayor for the day.
The actual day the students spent as police chief, fire chief and mayor was last Friday, May 9.
The honorary city leader program was hosted by the Mountain Home Elk's Lodge. The students were among 15 under consideration by the five-person selection committee for this distinction.
"I was really excited when I found out because I knew it was going to be a lot of fun," said Ingram regarding her selection into the program. "Now that I'm here, I'm nervous and excited -- a little bit of both."
"It was really cool because I had never won something like this before," said Winnings, who hoped he's have a chance to wear some of the firefighter gear during the day.
"I think it's awesome and I'm really excited, although I'm not sure what to do," Berg said regarding his appointment as the city's leader.
The sixth grader credited his teachers and academic assistants for his selection in the honorary civic leader program.
Geared for those in fourth to eighth grade, teachers at each of the local elementary schools and the middle school evaluated their students throughout the year and submitted their nominations to the local Elk's Lodge.
To qualify, students needed to maintain good grades while going "above and beyond in and out of the classroom," said Elks spokesperson Cristena Ford. Those selected are often active participants in the local community.
While the parents are notified well in advance regarding their children's selections for the program, details are kept close hold until the actual date of the honorary chief program approaches.
Ingram was identified by her teacher, Shelly Rose, as a "delightful young lady" and a very capable student that has the patience to work with others and help them succeed.
"She has the ability to ask the questions to help the students achieve the right answer on their own and then celebrates with them in their discovery," Rose said. "Her compassion for others is outstanding."
Outside of the classroom, she spends her free time as an active member of American Heritage Girls in her local church.
Meanwhile, Rose considered Winnings a student with a new appreciation for school. For years, he struggled with homework and saw no real need for a formal education.
"After many talks and consequences from his mother and myself, Kaydan finally agreed that maybe doing homework wouldn't be so bad," Rose said. His renewed efforts on schoolwork led to a noted improvement in his grades.
Outside of school, Winnings is active in the local 4H program and invests his free time helping his family and friends with their animals with an ambition to be the best pig farmer in the local community.
"Kaydan is well liked by his peers and is willing to help anyone with any task," Rose said. "He is very capable of having success in any project that he attempts."
Berg earned the mayoral distinction for the significant improvements he's made in the academic environment as well as his personal conduct in the classroom.
"This has been a long hard road for Tyler" who rarely leaves the classroom these days, said Karyn Carter, who monitors Berg's academic performance at the local school.
This hard work led to a significant improvement in his grades. His reading abilities jumped by two levels with his math skills seeing similar improvements.
At the same time, he's learned new ways to cope with the academic environment and is able to express his ideas to his teacher as well as others in the school system, Carter added.
"I am overjoyed to report that he has made gigantic strides in both his behavior and education," Carter said.
Each child found something unique during the day they found fun or just amazing.
Among their adventures was a trip over to Legacy Park where they got to blast water from one of the fire department's trucks. They even had a chance to try out their golf skills at the city golf course during their lunch break.
"I had a really fun time -- the funnest I've ever had," Berg said.
While she knew that police officers enforce the law, Ingram discovered that just scratched the surface on the other aspects of their profession. During the day, she watched as Officer Ryan Melanese and his canine companion searched for narcotics during a training exercise.
What really amazed her was watching the canine stay put once it detected the drugs and refused to leave unless it received the right command and only from the handler.
While on patrol, Ingram also watched as officers pulled over the mayor's vehicle during a traffic stop.
"That was so funny," she said.
Winnings had a chance to tour some of the fire department's facilities, including the live fire training complex. He even had a chance to watch a video taken during the range fires that swept across Elmore County last summer.
For Berg, it allowed him to better understand the mayor's role in local government.
Simply put, the mayor helps people, he said.