In November, mayor Ivan Brooker came to talk to the French Immersion students at Manachaban Middle School. We are studying local government, so Mayor Brooker’s visit gave us a lot of great information about our municipal government and how our town is run.
At the end of his visit Mayor Brooker asked us what we thought we should do with the old pool site once the new pool is built. After his visit, a group of students were chosen from each class to come up with possible answers to this question.
After a few weeks of hard work, the groups were ready to present. On Dec. 6, the students headed to the Ranchehouse to tour the facility, learn more about our town’s government and participate in a mock council meeting.
Many students were chosen to play the roles of the mayor, the councillors and many other important town roles. Top of the agenda was our presentations on possible uses for the old pool site.
The first group to present had the idea of creating a cultural hub. The second group presenting brought up the idea of a community center. After each presentation, council asked each group questions about their plan for parking, traffic, the content, how many people would use the facilities and the costs.
After discussion and a vote it was decided that the mayor’s suggestion of combining the cultural hub and community centre would be the best choice. We all had such a great day! Thank you Town of Cochrane!
- By Gabi Courte, Grade 6 student at Manachaban
