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More than 20 sixth grade students from Hazelwood East Middle School spent the better part of a day recently learning about local government and sharing ideas based on their own research to help leaders best serve the citizens of North St. Louis County.

As part of a project through the CECH-UP program, Citizenship Education Clearing House, through the University of Missouri Outreach and Extension office, students from two Academic Excellence classes at Hazelwood East Middle carried out an investigative research project focused on the North County Recreation Complex at Veteran’s Memorial Park. The complex will remove the ice skating rink and renovate the existing space. The removal of the rink is based on a feasibility study completed in 2003. In 2007, the decision was made to close the rink permanently at the end of the 2007-2008 skating season. The last rink event was the Spring Ice Show held in March

The students became involved in the project through a meeting with County Councilman Mike O’Mara and Barb Easley, social studies coordinator for the Hazelwood School District. The students were asked to find out how the space should be used. The class members began the task by developing a survey and distributing it to students at Hazelwood East Middle and Hazelwood East High School. It was also given to the parents of students at Hazelwood East Middle. After collecting the surveys and organizing the data, the students created a proposal, which was presented to O’Mara and Brian Schaffer, manager of the recreation complex.

On Tuesday, March 25, the day the students returned to school from spring break, the students and two teachers, Rachel Dofing and John DeGuire, took a field trip to the St. Louis County Government Center in Clayton for a tour and to meet with county leaders to present their findings. Afterward, they returned to North County to meet with O’Mara and Schaffer at the recreation complex to learn more about the current proposals for using the space and to share their findings.

Schaffer reviewed the plans for a proposed concept and gave each student a copy of the plans, presented in a scaled drawing. During the presentation, students worked in small teams to give summations using colorful charts on poster boards as illustrations.

Through their research, the students determined three top recommendations for using the space to serve the needs of the public – a video game room, basketball and roller skating.

The students spent about two months on the project, including studying county government in Missouri, particularly in St. Louis County. They received 244 surveys from students at the high school, 264 from the middle school and 58 from parents, for a total of 566.

Maurice Lawson, a student involved in the project, thought it was a good experience for him since he is thinking about being involved in government and politics. “We want to get more people to come to the center,” he explained. “I thought about how Matthew-Dickey and Herbert Hoover are doing something positive all the time and how it can be done here, too.”

At the end of the presentation at the complex, O’Mara expressed his appreciation for the students’ efforts. “I value your input and we’re still in the early stages of the process,” he said. “We would like to take your ideas into consideration. Your work is a good resource for us.”

Schaffer invited the students to tell their parents to get involved in public forums and meetings that relate to the future of the complex and the community, stressing the importance of community involvement.

In a summary provided to the students, current plans for utilizing the existing facility include: a multifunctional indoor gymnasium, a walking track, a fitness center/weight room and an aerobics/dance room.

CECH-UP is designed to teach middle school students about local government in Missouri and to involve them in issues related to their communities.. (story courtesy of the Hazelwood Communications Dept.)

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