The walls of a family home tell a story, think of your own home. Pictures of birthdays, vacations, portraits, religious figures, and relics echo the values cherished within the household. When you bring numerous families together and build a wondrous blend of people, the local government feels way more useful. Within the walls of Chamblee’s city hall, the city council and community work together to foster diversity and development successfully. Thus, the creation of Chamblee 101 has worked to share the city’s inner workings.
“Participants get a behind-the-scenes look at how the City of Chamblee provides high-quality services to the community through a ten-week course that reviews how the city works, who is responsible for what, and what steps you can take to be an engaged and empowered partner who is equipped to be active in the Chamblee community,” said www.chambleega.com.
Chamblee 101 has been around since 2014. As a postgraduate student of this program, Civics, World Geography, and Advanced Placement United States Government teacher, Mattie Kasper shares her favorite part of the program.
“I took the class in 2018. My favorite memory from the class was learning more about the Chamblee Police Department (touring the facilities) and also Parks & Rec. I was pleasantly surprised at how diverse the police force was and the amount of community outreach projects they were planning,” said Kasper.
As 2024 began, a new change was brought to this project. It expanded to include the participation of high school students. The hours spent on this course will be counted as civic volunteer hours for students aiming for the Civil Engagement Seal.
“We want to start a new program, Chamblee 101 Jr. Last year, I learned of the Civic Engagement seal and wanted to figure out ways to incorporate it into the new program. Incorporating students into the program is our first step into that. Seeing how they do in the regular course, getting their feedback on how they feel about the course, and incorporating that feedback into Jr. Chamblee 101,” said Brittney Lindsay, Community Engagement Director.
The city has a love for innovation. As they continue their mission of spreading wisdom on local government, they learn to adapt to their community. For instance, tweaking the method in which they teach the course.
“For the first time, we are grouping departments. So, community engagement is going to go alongside parks and recreation. We’ll do two-way communication, and it’ll be very interactive,” said Lindsay.
Participants would spend approximately 20 hours learning about our city government. However, it will be spread over the Wednesdays in February, March, and April.
“Most of our meetings will be in city hall. I would say that even though it’s a time commitment once a week. We provide dinner for each class. We remain very active in our conversation. It’s not like you’re sitting there going through a boring class. We make sure everyone stays engaged. It’s also for a fairly short time. So it’s ten weeks, and we do take a break for spring break,” said Lindsay.
The creation of tight-knit, diverse communities fosters a closer relationship between the people and the government.
“I’ll even say for myself, I had no idea I would be in local government. I just kind of fell into it. And if I had known this was an option for me early on, I would have started right there and started the process in local government as soon as I graduated,” said Lindsay.
With city officials choosing to educate children on the real-world responsibilities of local government, Chamblee 101 marks the beginning of the introduction of students to civic engagement within the local community.
