Page 14 - The Wayne Dispatch

New coalition seeks to increase citizen engagement

By Carolyn Marnon ahead of time; no one was surprised.
When the Wayne-Westland Coali- The Wayne Westland Coalition is
tion was formed, the original intent currently trying to raise awareness of
was to increase citizen engagement. the importance of voting in the up-
Members found that registered vot- coming election. Members also plan
ers weren’t voting in their local elec- to reach out to community members
tions. The group wanted to overcome directly to ask about concerns they
the disconnect they felt existed be- have about the school district’s vir-
tween the community and local tual education program. They plan
school board members. If you would like to learn more about the Wayne Westland school to collect responses and present
The new student-run coalition them at a future school board meet-
consists of students from both board candidates, you can visit the group’s Facebook page: ing.
Wayne Memorial High School and https://www.facebook.com/waynewestlandcoalition. If you would like to learn more
John Glenn High School. Coun- about the Wayne Westland school
selors at both schools were asked to board candidates, you can visit the
refer students who were interested projects they are launching. Meetings tions that could be asked of each group’s Facebook page: https://www.-
in social advocacy or politics to be- are currently being held on the candidate, but it was up to each stu- facebook.com/waynewestlandcoali-
come board members. Anyone is al- Zoom platform to practice safe so- dent who conducted the interview tion.
lowed to join the coalition. cial distancing. what questions were asked. The Current board members from
The coalition uses Twitter, Insta- The coalition recently concluded coalition had also encouraged com- Wayne Memorial are Khushi Patel
gram and Facebook to increase com- its first project that had members in- munity members to provide ques- and Lauren McKeny. Representing
munity engagement. Board Member dividually interviewing the Wayne tions they wanted answers to. One John Glenn are members Erin
Khushi Patel, a senior at Wayne Me- Westland School Board candidates. candidate was unable to meet via Knape, Jillian Downey, Karina
morial, encourages community The interviews were then posted to Zoom for an interview, but she did Vazquez, Kathryn Bigelow and Shan-
members who want to get involved the social media accounts as a way provide a written response to ques- non Blevins. The board is rounded
with the coalition to reach out via so- to disseminate information about tions. To remain transparent, all can- out by Wayne Memorial alum Nikita
cial media. Committee members each candidate. Khushi says the didates were given a list of the Bhangu who is currently attending
gather once a month to talk about group came up with a set of ques- possible questions to be asked Michigan State University.

14 · October 2020 · The Wayne Dispatch