As the year draws to a close, the time came for the fourth, and last, Expedition Day on April 19th. Below, we look back on two of the trips offered, one regarding the city government (check out our interview with the Mayor of Staunton, too!), the other about the Staunton's hidden history.
Meeting the City Manager and Her Team pt. 1 - by Maggie Anderson
On Stuart Hall’s most recent expedition day on April 19th, the fourteen or so students took a trip to visit the city manager’s office in city hall – among other things. The students met with the City Manager, Leslie Beauregard, who held the position of Assistant City Manager from 2019 to 2022, as well as the Vice City Mayor, and a student intern.
Beauregard explained that, as her duty, she runs the day to day operations in the city, thus most of what you see everyday is the product of her and her assistant’s work. “…you flush your toilet, you run your water, your trash gets picked up – we’re responsible for all of that.”
The City Manager, Ms. Leslie M. Beauregard - who held the position of Assistand City Manager from 2019 to 2022 -, works for the seven-member city council board: “I execute their policies and their plans… I make sure the city keeps going.” She gave a list of her responsibilities, including police, finance, community, and economic development. She supervises department heads, making sure that everything in the city is up to date and working as it should. “Every day’s a little bit different... we don’t sit behind our desks all day, we are literally out and about doing things – working on things,” as she put it. She explained that Staunton’s government is always at work to ensure the city is in tip-top condition.
Along with that, Beauregard discussed how down-to-earth the City Manager’s office is: “Our office gets a lot of phone calls from citizens…” She talked about how easy it is for citizens to call them, and how easy it was for them to talk to her and her assistants, elaborating on how great she thought it was to have such a friendly–neighborly office.
It was clear that Ms. Beauregard cared about the city and its people. “Everyday you see the fruits of your labors, you see the improvements around you, you don’t see that when you work for the state or federal government," she commented. She said she loved small-scale government, and greatly preferred it over large-scale government such as a whole country or nation: “So I know it doesn’t sound that exciting, but when you’re in this chair it is really exciting.” Above all, Ms. Beauregard loves her job and probably won't be leaving anytime soon.
Meeting the City Manager and Her Team pt. 2 - by Ingrid Anderson
In regard to the Assistant City Manager, Amanda Kaufman, her work is to (of course) assist the city manager. As opposed to
the City Manager, who has direct coordination with the City Council, the Assistant City Manager, though having some coordination, is separated from the City Council, mainly focusing on the day-to-day operations of the city and involvement with the departments. These departments will report to her and she will aid them in these aforementioned day-to-day operations, such as assisting with the budget, plans, and special projects. Then, the departments will ultimately report back to the City Manager. In other words, the Assistant City Manager is responsible for the everyday operations of Stuanton.
Amanda Kaufman described working as the Assistant City Manager to be “where the rubber meets road,” in being able to see just how a city can operate every day and understanding what gives it the ability to do so. She went on to describe how Staunton, a community of this size, allows one to “really see the thick of it” -- what the city team did and how a community of this size was so special in that understanding. Though having only worked as the Assistant City Manager for two months, she clearly has a wonderful place in it and has found some of the beauty of Staunton through it.
In regard to internship, interns are also given duties as part of this local government. The current intern, Ms. Summer, explained these. Some of her duties in the city manager’s office are to update the citizens' guide, which is a pamphlet detailing Staunton, aid with daily tasks, and occasionally do a little research with the city manager and assistant city manager. She discussed how interning in local government had given her a broad view of all the departments associated with local government: IT, tourism, community development, economic development, and management. Similar to the assistant city manager, she talked about how, looking at the local government as opposed to the national government, one can truly see how something functions and the departments involved on the local level, saying there are “many options that [she] feels like are endless”.
Renewing Homes of Greater Augusta - by Sage Kizer
On the most recent day away, Mr. Sorge, Mrs. Sorge, and Mr. Belote’s group worked with a nonprofit organization called Renewing Homes of Greater Augusta. This organization aims to make homes safe, dry, warm, and accessible for low-income families. Their work is completely free to those who need it and includes upgrading plumbing and heating systems, fixing roofs, and building ramps. Mr. Belote and Mrs. Sorge’s group went to help build a ramp for a man who recently turned 90 years old. He uses a walker to get around and both his front and side doors were only accessible by steps. His nephew, who helped build the ramp, had been helping him in and out of his house, so this ramp made life easier for both of them.
The ramps are built from three different pieces that are screwed together, then planks are placed to walk on, and a handrail is added on each side. Because these ramps are built from three pieces, they can be broken down and rebuilt if needed. The executive director, Sharon Coplai, who has worked with Renewing Homes of Greater Augusta for four years now, was glad that Stuart Hall was helping grow young people’s interest in helping the community. She stated that engaging in volunteer work “broadens your view of the world” and “introduces people to the idea of giving back.” This proved to be true, as most students enjoyed using drills and following instructions to help a kind man walk down his front steps. While building extra ramp parts for other projects, Avery Hess (10) said that “it feels really good to help people,” which seemed to be the overall consensus in the group.
The Arnold-King-Nava "Escape Room" - by Simon Rozsa
An escape room – in Staunton? A lot of students got excited at this prospect, thus it’s no wonder that the most populous of the April expeditions was “Staunton’s Hidden History” escape room, designed by Mr. Arnold. “It’s an escape room-like experience,” he maintained later, when some got a little upset about being confronted with having to walk a few miles. Groans aside, the students were divided into three groups in a truly wacky race through town to find each of the 12 spots described in verse riddles and get back to STU first. We had everything we needed for fun: coffee pit stop strategies (30 minutes at By & By is apparently not the best idea), teachers getting lost and found again (looking at you, Mr. King...), and, of course, the sprint to the finish line in the end (yes, the King team won – don’t believe those Nava naysayers!). Overall, a great day, with a badminton tournament organized by Mr. Arnold to top it all off once everyone got back on campus.
Cover picture from the Stuart Hall Facebook page