and by Emily Mars Raymond, totally biased mother of Olivet
This summer, 10-year-old Oliver Raymond completed the Seven Days VT Good Citizen Challenge. It involved 25 activities that helped him learn about and improve his community. Raymond finished the activities before the end of the summer and was honored on Nov. 2 at a reception at the Vermont Statehouse.
Eighty-six school-aged children in Vermont completed at least five of the Good Citizen Challenge tasks.
Raymond was one of three children in the state who completed all 25 tasks and was honored as a “Distinguished Citizen” at the reception. Raymond received a certificate and a gift card to Phoenix Books.
“Good citizens get involved, they pitch in, and they care,” said Cathy Resmer, deputy editor of Seven Days, which sponsored the Good Citizen Challenge. Speakers at the Statehouse event included Resmer, Statehouse Curator David Schutz, Secretary of State Sarah Copeland Hanzas, and Vermont Public podcaster Jane Lindholm. “If you know what’s happening in your community, you can be informed and make better decisions,” Lindholm said.
Raymond’s challenges included visiting a public memorial and finding out who it honors and why. He visited the Hinesburg Veterans Memorial and read the names of those who lost their lives fighting for our country.
Another challenge was to meet with an elected official. Raymond met with Hinesburg’s State Representative Phil Pouech and learned about how hard it was to make everyone happy when there are many parties to appease.
Another challenge was to go to the local fire station and find out how it was funded.
Raymond went to the fire station and received a fabulous tour and found that it was the town’s taxpayers that pay for their equipment and training.
One of the more difficult challenges was to find out who brought electricity to Hinesburg. After visits to the library, emails to the historical society, and calls to Green Mountain Power, Raymond discovered that an electric company in Richmond was the first to turn on the lights in Hinesburg in 1903.
One of Raymond’s favorite challenges was to write a thank you note to someone who put on a public event. He wrote a thank you note to Hinesburg Recreation Director Jen McCuin, who organized the town’s Fourth of July Parade. McCuin reached out to say how much the note meant to her, as the cancellation of fireworks because of swampy field conditions meant that not everyone in town was thanking her for her efforts.
Other challenges included picking up litter at the Hinesburg Recreation Fields, drawing a picture of Vermont’s state motto “Freedom and Unity,” visiting the Carpenter Carse Library, looking up property deeds at Town Hall, and listening to a podcast about the harmful effects of social media.
“Everyone can be a good citizen, only if they want to and are willing to try,” Raymond said. “Being a good citizen shouldn’t be an amazing thing. Everyone should be a good citizen.”
