‘Where the people meet their government’: Lancaster County hosts high school social studies students for County Government Day

Filling in the rows of the City Council Chambers at the County-City building, 68 students from schools in Lancaster County participated in a County Board meeting Tuesday, getting the chance to learn about how their local government functions.

The tour was part of County Government Day. The daylong event sponsored in part by the American Legion and American Legion Auxiliary brought in high schoolers from Waverly, Norris, Malcolm and Lincoln Christian.

Commissioner Sean Flowerday said that working in local government is an interesting way to get involved and have a real impact on your community.

“I think I would tell you that county and city government is one of the last places in this country where I think mostly government is still working,” Flowerday said. “You know, there's no Democratic or Republican way to build a bridge. You don't fall into the same infighting in this near as much as at this level of government, as we see at the state legislature or congress.”

Lincoln Christian social studies teacher Collin Mink said in his classroom, one of the phrases he commonly uses is “county government is where the people meet their government.”

“The reality is local government is the government that impacts our lives more than anything,” County Commissioner Matt Schulte said. “The biggest tax bill your parents pay goes to local government. Many of you are going to public schools that are funded by local dollars.”

Schulte also reminded the students of the importance of voting and paying attention to local government.

“It's a good opportunity for the kids to see that county elections matter,” Mink said. “Each one of these commissioners do important things, whether it's talking about the East Beltway or whether it's talking about, you know, wind or solar farms in rural Lancaster County, all of that stuff matters.”

After attending the board meeting, students sectioned off, going on tours of eight different departments within Lancaster County.

Waverly High School social studies teacher Travis Moore said it's the first year Waverly participated in the event.

To Moore, this event exposes students to local government at an early age, teaching them to understand how local government functions and potentially giving the students an idea of job opportunities in the future.

“I think understanding what government looks like at the local level, and how, why it's so important to get engaged at a young age, but also, like when you start to vote, local and county government is probably where you have the most say," he said.