By Heath Alexander, 6th Grade Social Studies Teacher
Sixth-graders from the FBRA Boys Program went to City Hall on Monday, May 13, 2024 to deliver letters to the Asheville City Council and Mayor on the topic of rebuilding the Malvern Hills pool, a community swimming pool in West Asheville that has been closed due to repair costs. The letter-writing project was a real-world exercise in civic engagement and part of the students’ recent studies about the origins of democracy in ancient Greece and the structure of our government systems in the U.S. Students used their persuasive writing skills to make their cases to City Council about the future of the Malvern Hills pool, and saw first-hand how they as citizens of a democratic society can affect how they are governed.
Students could opt to write their persuasive letters in favor of or in opposition to the pool bond referendum issue that the City Council was considering. They could also choose whether or not to send their letters to the City Council.
Did The Malvern Hills Pool Position Letters Make A Difference?
At the end of the Tuesday, May 14 City Council meeting, the Mayor said “I did get a bunch of letters from a bunch of kids,” while holding up a stack of papers. You can see the brief callout and recognition from the Mayor at the 3:25:44 mark of the meeting video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YUMqpkXCZhY&t=6411s
Brooke Heaton, one of the organizers of the Rebuild Malvern Hills Pool effort (https://www.rebuildmalvernhillspool.org/), commented on FBRA’s Facebook post and thanked the school and 6th grade boys for their letter writing and support of the pool issue.
To date, the issue is still under consideration by the City Council.
Excerpts from student letters:
