Viewfinder: EMS Students Hear from Mayor on Art of Persuasion

Enumclaw Mayor Liz Reynolds visited with several seventh grade language arts/history classes at Tuesday as part of an ongoing project the students are undertaking in learning how to write for a specific audience.

Reynolds was invited by teachers Bea Murrell and Della Demerjian to have a conversation with the students about persuasion and how that factors into her role as mayor of the city.

The students are currently tackling an assignment to write a persuasive letter to the mayor asking her to support a community-wide project to promote awareness and to take action towards any of five topics the students had decided to focus on -- all of them related to environmental awareness, Murrell said.

They were:

• Alternative energy sources
• Using cars less (in favor of carpools/buses/walking/bicycling)
• Getting outside more
• Recycling
• Reducing the use of harmful chemicals/pesticides

Students were able to ask Reynolds questions and not surprisingly given their assignment, may were in regards to the specific environmental issues they were currently working on. Many also wanted to know more about her job as mayor.

Reynolds offered her perspective on effective language as well as her experience in being on the receiving end of persuasive messages from the public.

Above all else, do your homework rather than just stating an idea. "I want to hear your rationale behind it," she told the students.

She prefers to turn those persuasive messages into conversations, she said, rather than make promises to citizens because things don't necessarily always stay in her control.

Reynolds told the students that she'll note good ideas and run them through her staff at city hall to look into possibly pursuing them. What really gets her attention, she said, were ideas that weren't just benefitting a single citizen but the community as a whole.

"Whatever project it is you're going to ask me to consider, tell me how it's going to help 'we,'" she said.

And is it silly for a seventh grader to think the mayor would pay attention to their idea? Absolutely not. "I welcome the ideas the youth of the community shares. I think you absolutely have the most powerful voice."