BY SETH MANDEL
Staff Writer
MILLTOWN — Like (great-grand) father, like (great-grand) son.
That was the theme at the April 25 meeting of the Borough Council, at which eighth-graders from Joyce Kilmer School took the dais, each representing a member of the governing body.
And representing council President Skarzynski was … class president Skarzynski.
Jake Skarzynski, the current student body president at Joyce Kilmer, stood in for his father, council President Mike Skarzynski — further evidence that Jake could be the latest in the chain of Skarzynski politicians.
“I’ve been involved a little bit with politics, and I really want to get into it when I get older,” Jake said. “My great-grandfather was a politician; my grandfather, my uncle and my father are politicians; and it was just really great being up there to actually do it and know what they go through.”
The meeting was part of a Youth in Government program at Joyce Kilmer, where the students hold annual elections for each municipal government position.
“It started years ago in their social studies classes where we wanted the children to understand local government,” said Youth in Government adviser Geralyn Gerhart.
Gerhart said the elections begin with primary and general elections, narrowing the field to two candidates for each position. There are no losers in the elections, as candidates who don’t win are appointed to another position, usually one related to the position for which they ran.
Gerhart said there are about 90 positions to fill, including spots on the council, Board of Education, Board of Health, Shade Tree Commission, Planning Board, Zoning Board of Adjustment and positions within the fire department.
Regardless of their positions, all 73 of the students must attend a council meeting and a school board meeting. In addition, they each must attend a meeting of their respective board.
Those who won seats on the council attended the April 11 meeting of the Borough Council.
“The 13 children and myself go and observe a council meeting so they can understand the protocol, the professionalism, how they need to dress and how they need to act,” Gerhart said.
Gerhart, who is also a language arts teacher at Joyce Kilmer, said the kids are given a class on presentation skills, and were able to relate what took place at the council meeting to that class.
“So they connected it to their other levels of learning and their presentation skills, as well as historical Milltown,” Gerhart said. “It was wild.”
The program enables the participants to surprise even themselves. Take as an example Mayor Gloria Bradford’s youth counterpart, Christie Visokay.
“Here’s a child who was very shy, and now she ran for the mayor,” Gerhart said. “And she felt good about herself. She’ll remember this.”
Gerhart’s son, Russ, lost the mayoral election to Christie, but was then appointed to represent Borough Engineer Michael McClelland.
Gerhart said each member of the governing body was in attendance to help answer questions during the public portion of the meeting.
“When something came up about the flooding, it was so neat to hear Mr. McClelland say, ‘Well my assistant, Mr. Gerhart, did review specifically what we felt transpired, but let me add on to that …’ It was just magical,” Gerhart said.
Other districts have shown interest in running such a program in their schools.
“Nobody does this, and it’s funny because I’ve been getting calls from other districts who really want to do it; and our Borough Council is just so warm, friendly and trusting that they really support the learning of the kids,” Gerhart said.
She said she hopes some of the kids who participated will actually run for these positions in the future, now that their interest has been sparked.
It’s probably a safe bet that at least one of her students will follow such a path.
“I thought of it as preparation,” Jake Skarzynski said. “I was just getting really used to it and having fun with it.”
Mike Skarzynski said when he was sworn in after being elected to his first term in office, his father and grandfather were in attendance, and he was proud to be there when Jake first took his place on the council.
“This is my ninth time that I’ve done this, but it was extra-special for me being that my son, who is the president of Joyce Kilmer School, got to play me as the president of the council, so it was an exciting experience for me,” Skarzynski said.
Skarzynski said Jake was drawn to politics on his own, without any pressure from the family.
“I like how it’s really competitive, and how you get to represent the people and make the decisions, and basically help everyone out,” Jake said.
Skarzynski said whether or not the kids have a desire to enter the political arena in the future, they were all rewarded with valuable experience, as were the members of Borough Council.
“I think, every year, the kids learn a little bit from us and we learn a little bit from the kids,” Skarzynski said.