Greenwich Government 101: An Elementary Lesson

Photos: Greenwich First Selectman gives a lesson in local government to third-grade students of Cos Cob School. Credit: Barbara Heins.

When the clock struck 2 p.m. Tuesday, it was a lesson in local government 101 for Greenwich First Selectman Peter Tesei.

The town’s chief elected official gave a lesson in government to about 90 third-graders at Cos Cob Elementary School, capping a section teaching the students about government. First they learned about the federal and state levels of government, and on Tuesday, the students learned about their local town government.

“We started more global with the state and federal levels of government and now we are learning to understand and see how it takes everyone to run a town,” explained third-grade teacher Michele Prisinzano.

Tesei presented an interactive lesson in which he honorarily appointed students members of various Greenwich elected bodies, including the Representative Town Meeting, the Board of Education and the Board of Estimate and Taxation.

However, the most excitement was generated when Tesei asked which students wanted to represent the Greenwich Fire Department and the Greenwich Police Department. The students shouted “Me, me, me,” in the school’s media center where Tesei described the functions of several town agencies.

Several students held copies of the town’s organizational chart and a town map that Tesei gave them as they asked their questions. They wanted to know the functions of the Board of Assessment Review, the Commission on Aging, the Conservation Commission and The Nathaniel Witherell, the town-owned nursing home.

The children were enamored by the fact the first selectman also is the town’s police and fire commissioner and has an emergency services portable radio. Despite one student’s plea that he contact the 9-1-1 dispatch center so the students could have a listen, Tesei explained that he couldn’t interfere with the center’s communications in case there was a true emergency and that he uses the radio only to monitor emergency incidents.

After their brief foray into participatory government, the students wanted to know:

If you have free time, what do you do?

I walk at Greenwich Point and Cos Cob Park. Sometimes I ride my bike.

When do you get a break from your job?

When I pick up my kids here at Cos Cob School.

What do you do on weekends?

This isn’t a five-day-a-week job. Sometimes when there are police or fire incidents and I go to the scene. There are community events on the weekend that need the support of the community and I attend.

Why can’t you close the schools?

(School superintendent) Dr. (William) McKersie has that power. You need to be in school … it helps you learn so that you can get a job and have a career.

How long do you have your job?

Two weeks from today is Election Day. So it’s either four weeks after that or two years, if my contract is renewed.