(From L-R) King Walker, DeCarlos McKinney, Milan Capoor, Antonio Brown, Sharon Gay, Andre Dickens, Zakai Beck, Claudia Haspel and Allison Hunter basal unneurotic for photos aft the event. (Photo Credit: Darius Goodman)
Getting a accidental to inquire mayoral candidates questions doesn’t travel often but for six Atlanta Public School (APS) students, their accidental came Monday.
With this being the lone forum dedicated to acquisition and lone 3 mayoral candidates were successful attendance. Antonio Brown, Andre Dickens and Sharon Gay sat earlier students and families to speech astir the pressing matters effecting the community.
Walking into the auditorium astatine the Alonzo A. Crim Center for Learning and Leadership, the six students sat astatine a array conscionable earlier the beforehand enactment of the attendees.
Before everything kicked off, Carver Early College’s Zakai Beck was disposable for speech and said that this lawsuit was a testament to younker being capable to speech to politicians.
“Not lone are we the future, they kinda clasp the metropolis accountable for what’s going to happen,” Beck said. “If thing doesn’t spell well, we’re looking astatine the candidates and we’re looking astatine wherefore did it hap this way. What could person prevented it from happening this way?”
Beck didn’t spell into details arsenic to what was going to beryllium asked during the sheet but helium says his questions were planned astir the authorities of the neighborhoods and the authorities of his ain community.
“I americium an Atlanta native,” Beck said. “I recognize what it’s similar to unrecorded here. Our streets aren’t the best, we person potholes, we person abandoned buildings, we person our acquisition strategy that could bash with a small spot much tweaking. I’m looking for opportunities for our city. What are we going to bash to amended our metropolis for the natives?”
APS Superintendent Dr. Lisa Herring thanked the students who came retired during their time disconnected from school.
After Midtown High School’s choir sung the Star-Spangled Banner, Dr. Herring gave her opening remarks portion besides acknowledging that erstwhile politician Kasim Reed and Atlanta City Council President Felicia Moore were not successful attendance.
Both Reed and Moore had a scheduling struggle that affected their availability to be the event.
“Today was a almighty illustration of power,” Herring said. “The powerfulness of our voice, powerfulness of the ballot and the powerfulness of younker and of people the powerfulness of politics. We’re bringing each of those together. I accidental that successful the abstraction that we admit present successful APS that our scholars are good poised to not lone beryllium alert of what’s happening successful our metropolis but to person questions astir it. Because this is APS, not lone are their questions relevant, it’s an accidental to perceive from 1 of the astir captious seats successful our state.”
Fox 5 Atlanta’s Deidre Dukes was the moderator of the event.
The student’s questions ranged from governmental inheritance questions to however to mitigate transgression successful the Atlanta area. Even questions astir getting the Atlanta Police Department (APD) and Atlanta Public Schools Police Department (APSPD) to enactment unneurotic were asked. The 3 mayoral candidates had a fig of questions to reply astir the schools and wherever the students were astatine astir information for not conscionable themselves, but everyone other astir them.
Each campaigner had 2 minutes to reply each question.
At the extremity of the two-hour-long debate, the students representing six APS schools took photos with the candidates.
“The radical who are present are stuck successful a rhythm of intergenerational poverty,” Allison Hunter, a pupil astatine South Atlanta High School. “I deliberation it’s important that we person those pugnacious conversations, that we person that transparency. For me, it was a large accidental to perceive for ourselves and beryllium capable to clasp them accountable to that stake.”
Hunter continued, “I consciousness similar there’s not capable argumentation makers asking students for their position oregon their opinions and including their voice. Data is 1 happening but to hinder a student’s dependable is different and for america to person this accidental to bash that was conscionable large for me.”
The different 3 students connected the sheet were Milan Capoor – North Atlanta High School, Claudia Haspel – Maynard H. Jackson High School, King Walker – Booker T. Washington High School and DeCarlos McKinney from B.E.S.T. Academy.
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