A sixth-grade student will be a guest of the Grand Forks County Commission during a County Board meeting in the student's own school.
The "County Seat for a Day" will be scheduled later this year, probably in November.
The County Commission is inviting sixth-graders to participate in an essay contest. Letters were mailed today to elementary schools in the county.
The essay topic is: "Why my school should be the site of the Grand Forks County seat for one day."
"The author of the winning essay will be recognized at a County Commission meeting, and will be invited to sit with the County Commission at a County Commission meeting to be held at the school of the winning author," County Commission Chairwoman Diane Knauf said.
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The County Seat for a Day program is an effort to make county government more accessible and to provide an educational opportunity.
The exact format of the meeting has not been determined. One proposal is to schedule a portion of the meeting as a town hall session, in which people can talk about local issues; and another portion as a regular county business meeting.
The proposed event grew out of a request this summer by commissioner Cynthia Pic, who said the County Commission should hold a meeting or two each year outside of the County Office Building, perhaps in a rural community.
States Attorney Peter Welte suggested the program, which is a spinoff of the "Capitol for a Day" program that the state promoted by former North Dakota Gov. Ed Schafer in the 1990s, in which the governor and several state elected officeholders held state government meetings in cities throughout the state.
Minnesota also offered a similar program in 2007, as part of its 150th anniversary of statehood.
Here's how the contest will work:
Teachers in each sixth-grade class will offer or assign the essay topic to students, then choose and forward two finalists for consideration by the County Commission.
Winning entries must be submitted to the county by Oct. 11. The County Commission will review the submissions and announce one overall winner at its Oct. 19 meeting in Grand Forks.
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The commission then will schedule a regular county meeting at the school, probably in November, Knauf said.
For more information, contact County Auditor Debbie Nelson at (701) 780-8200.
Reach Bonham at (701) 780-1110; (800) 477-6572, ext. 110; or send e-mail to kbonham@gfherald.com .
