Holladay mayor visits Crestview Elementary in answer to third-graders’ letters
Mar 19, 2019 01:00PM ● By Heather Lawrence
Mayor Dahle talks with third-graders in Carrie Jensen’s class at Crestview. (photo courtesy Carrie Jensen)
By Heather Lawrence | [email protected]
A third-grade social studies lesson came to life on Feb. 12 when students at Crestview Elementary got a visit from Holladay Mayor Rob Dahle. Dahle had received letters from the third-graders and decided to answer them in person.
“My students were giddy when I told them they could write a letter to our mayor. And they cheered when I told them that Mayor Dahle would be coming for a visit!” said third-grade teacher Juli Whitehead. “I appreciated Mayor Dahle for making time to visit my classroom to discuss laws and taxes with my students.”
Carrie Jensen also teaches third grade at Crestview. “Our social studies lesson talked about government’s role in caring for our community. So we had our students write to the mayor to ask him questions. They came up with some really good ones,” Jensen said.
Students wrote questions to Dahle like, “What do you do for your job?” “How is tax money used?” “How do the fire department and police benefit the community?” and “Why do you go to meetings?”
Whitehead and her colleagues Melissa Baese, Carolyn Mulvaney and Jensen sent off the letters. Whitehead was surprised when the mayor himself emailed her and told her he’d love to answer the questions in person. So they set the date for Feb. 12.
Jensen said Dahle stayed for half an hour with each class session and read through their letters and answered their questions. “Some were really good questions about government and the community. He also got questions like, ‘How old are you?’ and ‘How many cavities have you had?’” said Jensen.
Dahle enjoyed the visit, too. “It was really fun! (My wife) Joni and I were thrilled to receive personal letters from (them). We were honored to visit the school and talk about local community issues with the students. We are lucky to live in a community that has such an incredible public school infrastructure,” Dahle said of the visit.
