Seventh Grader Unlikely Attendant At School Bd Meeting

By Jeff White

As the Newtown Board of Education Tuesday night weighed upcoming oil bids, new textbooks, and 5/6 school recommendations, Danny Tichon sat attentively, agenda in hand, and took it all in.

The seventh grader seemed to thoughtfully consider the many topics discussed by the school district’s governing body, and from time to time scratched a note into the loose-leaf notebook in his blue, three-ring binder.

Danny, a second-year Boy Scout, was present at Tuesday night’s meeting as part of a program called Citizen in the Community, a requirement for his merit badge.

He was required to attend a meeting of a civic group. Although he had a range to choose from – city council meeting, county or parish board meeting, municipal court session – he settled on the school board because “it was easy to come to, and it was interesting.”

Danny admitted that as a student, he did not really have much knowledge of what happened on the administrative side of the school system. Thus, he concluded, it was interesting to see how decisions were made that would ultimately affect him and his friends.

“I thought the most interesting part was listening to everyone discuss topics and work out all of the problems,” he said outside the board’s meeting room.

Although some school board meetings can run past midnight, Danny luckily picked a meeting with a relatively light agenda. After roughly two hours of note taking, he felt he had a good handle on some current topics in the school system.

Danny said that in preparation for Tuesday night’s meeting, he had been reading up on school board issues in The Newtown Bee, and considering some topics that might interest him. The district’s proposed 5/6 school, for example, tweaked his interest because he has a younger sister who will no doubt feel the effects of the new building once it is in place.

Though he has only been a Boy Scout for the past two years, Danny is actually a seven-year veteran of cub scouts. He currently belongs to Troop 370.

But scouting is not his life, Danny cautions. He explained that despite his sudden interest in civic affairs, in school he mainly gravitates toward math and science, and outside of school he keeps busy running on cross-country and track teams.

The budding civic observer couldn’t say whether or not he would make a habit of attending school board meetings, but did confess that Tuesday night was certainly educational.

“I’ll probably think a lot more about what goes on in [the superintendent’s] office,” he said with a smile.