Por RENEE CABATO

On the morning of Oct. 19, the San Diego County Board of Supervisors began their regular meeting with special virtual guests: first grade students from Myron Green Elementary School in San Carlos. The students, all members of Rebecca Donovan’s class, joined via Zoom to lead the Pledge of Allegiance.

When asked about her students’ reactions, Donovan explained her first graders’ enthusiasm when they heard they would be leading the pledge.

“For first graders who weren’t in school last year because of COVID, they actually know it really well, and I was so excited to share that,” she stated. “They were very excited to get to see themselves on screen. They were so cute.”

Supervisor Joel Anderson awarded Donovan and her students County certificates of recognition for their participation in the Board of Supervisors meeting.

Anderson commented, “These San Carlos students are the future leaders of our community, and I was thrilled to watch them carry out such a patriotic tradition for the entire County. They did a great job leading the meeting.”

Donovan said the event itself sparked her students’ curiosity. After the meeting, she noted that all her students were asking questions about the event, leading to a class discussion on local government.

“In our classroom we’ve been talking a lot about government on a first-grade level,” Donovan shared. “We’ve been talking about how lawmakers make laws and vote on laws.”

The first graders often vote on items within their own class, so attending the Board of Supervisors meeting was a valuable opportunity for the students to see voting in action, according to Donovan.

The class was already familiar with the Pledge of Allegiance. At Green Elementary, students gather in the courtyard at the beginning of each school day to recite the Pledge of Allegiance, state their Green School Peace Pledge, and hear daily announcements.

Donovan, who has been a teacher at Green Elementary since 2018, expressed gratitude to the County for the opportunity.

“I just wanted to say thank you for choosing our class and allowing us to do it, because it was a great opportunity to have some good conversations and for them to get to do something outside out of the realm of normal,” she said.

Supervisor Anderson is eager to recognize residents of all ages that are giving back to their community in exceptional ways. Do you know of an individual or organization whose efforts deserve to be recognized? Visit Supervisor Anderson’s website to learn more about his certificate of recognition program at www.supervisorjoelanderson.com/certificate.

— Renee Cabato is an intern for County Supervisor Joel Anderson’s office.