The Rhinebeck High School student council collaborated with The Daily Catch and Panda TV to host a forum with Town of Rhinebeck democratic supervisor candidates Debbie Hecht and Amanda Miller in a packed high school auditorium on May 17. The democratic primary is June 23.
Jennifer Nelson, adviser for the student council and Rhinebeck Reality newspaper, worked with her students as well as Walter Mullin, publisher, and Emily Sachar, editor and founder of The Daily Catch; Suzanne Fagel, program director for Panda TV, and Ben Coonley, Bard College professor.
Students took on different roles to assist. Senior Aidan Jarvis manned a camera. Seniors Caswell LaRose and Jennifer Cruz each read the bio of a candidate before introducing the democratic hopefuls for the November election. Senior Zsuzsanna Moore, executive editor of Rhinebeck Reality, asked the candidates the first question.
“The question posed was about rising housing costs and how to draw young families and young people to stay in or move to Rhinebeck to raise their families,” said Nelson. “The students who read the bios had them almost memorized. They got up there and represented the school really well.”
Nelson added, “Students who have shown civic interest got to participate as voting members of the Town of Rhinebeck for the first time. That was a cool aspect of it. We had seniors see the kind of local politics that make a difference in their lives in action.”
Some students in the student council assisted guests with finding seats and answered questions for guests.
“They got to stay and be part of the audience to witness the Q&A, which was very entertaining, engaging and interesting as a member of the Rhinebeck community,” said Nelson.
Bennett Pulver and Justin Morton are sophomores on the student council who assisted guests, and shared similar thoughts on what they saw.
“Even though the two candidates were going against each other and they had different views on things, they were very open to each other and were supportive of what the other had to say,” said Pulver.
Morton added, “I thought they were very respectful in how they spoke to each other.”
Nelson and Rhinebeck students are hopeful another opportunity will come for students to participate in a town forum.
“I think it’s important for students to be part of civic engagement,” said Nelson.
Morton added, “I think it’s pretty interesting and a great idea to do this.”
Photo by Tony Adamis