Palmetto Bay Mayor Shelley Stanczyk served as principal for the day at Perrine Elementary School on Thursday, Nov. 8. It has become a yearly tradition in the Village of Palmetto Bay for the mayor to sit in as guest principal in place of the school’s actual principal, Maileen Ferrer, and interact with the students.
Besides learning the daily activities and responsibilities of a school principal, the mayor has the opportunity for a question and answer session with the students.
“The children were wonderful as always,” Mayor Stanczyk said. “The national and local election was a big topic for the students. The students in the third grade and up were very interested in the election and had questions about government that were quite detailed. They asked how long I had been mayor, how did I become mayor, and asked about my job description, and if I ever had to make difficult decisions. The interest in government was very high and I attribute this to the recent election. It was a very interesting day.”
In a session coordinated by school counselor Alma Dean, students Austin Johnson, Megan Villacorta, Adriana Hoshue and Alexis Arias demonstrated their skills in a skit for Mayor Stanczyk. But Stanczyk said that she was most impressed by their interest in learning about public service.
“They were so interested in the kind of work that a mayor does and about the way that people get elected,” Stanczyk said. “They were really interested in the concept of public service. It was a very appropriate time to be principal for a day, because it was immediately after the elections.
“The other times they asked about my kids, because they all went to school there, but this time the students were interested in public service and it’s really important to keep the interest alive because it’s really volunteer work.”
Perrine Elementary is located at 8851 SW 168 St. in Palmetto Bay.
