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Kindergarteners lobby City Hall
Lack of crosswalks around Castro leads to real-life civics lesson for young students

by Alexa Tondreau

A class of 15 students showed up at City Hall last Friday, after a long trek from Castro Elementary with umbrellas poised for the threatening rain. The students, all kindergarteners, were on a mission: to meet with a city official in order to air a very specific complaint.

Of concern to them was the fact that on their daily class walk in the neighborhoods surrounding the school, there are no ways for them to safely cross from Escuela Avenue, where Castro sits, to Latham Street at the corner.

So with the help and encouragement of their teacher, Bonnie Malouf, the students decided to speak up about it.

Malouf explained, "I said to them that as citizens of Mountain View, we can ask the city for lots of things because they make decisions about what is best for the community as a whole."

The students showed up at City Hall armed with a petition, a 2-by-3-foot cardboard letter asking for the crosswalks, 15 individual letters and a number of prepared speeches.

They were met by public works director Cathy Lazarus and taken into a private conference room, where she listened as the students listed reasons a crosswalk connecting Escuela and Latham would be a good thing for the city, with the No. 1 reason being the preservation of their own safety and well-being.

Lazarus said the city wasn't aware of the need for a crosswalk in that particular location, and so the students acted as ideal citizens in speaking up about it.

"If you're 5 or 105 and you see something and bring it to our attention, you can make a difference," Lazarus on Monday.

The students' work paid off, and at the end of the meeting Lazarus announced to them that the city would be putting in two crosswalks on the street.

"All of the children applauded when she said that," Malouf recounted. "They were wildly excited."

There was a slight hitch — the city had to wait until the rain stopped to lay down the paint — but all in all Lazarus thought the experience was "a good civics lesson for the kids."

She sent the children back to their classroom with their own copy of an aerial map of Castro School. And before they returned, Malouf had them stop in at City Hall's art gallery, where artwork from Castro students is on display.

Malouf, who has taught in the district for seven years, said it's rare to find an opportunity where children can learn at a young age that their opinion counts, and that it's essential to speak up for yourself and on behalf of other people in the community.

"We say these are our values, but where do we get our kids involved in this stuff?" she asked.

E-mail Alexa Tondreau at atondreau@mv-voice.com