School-age civic leaders from North Heights Community School in Texarkana, Arkansas, joined their adult-world counterparts for breakfast and municipal updates Wednesday morning at State of the Cities.
Business professionals, community members and others filled the Great Room at Texarkana College for the annual Texarkana Chamber of Commerce event. The conference featured year-in-reviews from city chiefs, including mayors Bob Bruggeman of Texarkana, Texas, and Allen Brown of Texarkana, Arkansas. They provided a glimpse into economic development, infrastructure improvements and other initiatives.
A spotlight was shone on North Heights, which Brown lauded as the only school in Arkansas using the MicroSociety model.
“What is a MicroSociety? It’s a unique educational model where students create and run their own miniature society within the school. It’s essentially a school-wide project where students actively participate in various roles and mimic real-life jobs, government positions and businesses,” Brown said in his address.
Brown then introduced representatives of The Heights governing council, who sat at a table with Dr. Lloyd Jackson, superintendent of Texarkana Arkansas School District.
Fifth-grader Scout Watts is the mayor, and fellow fifth-grader Kyler McNulty serves as assistant mayor. Kaedance Brown, fifth grade, is city manager. Fourth-grader Rehgan McKillion occupies the Ward 1 seat, and third-grader Grady Thomas represents Ward 8. The MicroSociety prosecuting attorney is third-grader Sutton Brown.
Read the full story in the Texarkana Gazette.