Is one of your goals in 2023 to learn more about how local governments function and serve their residents? Two in Orange County are offering chances for people to learn more about how our communities function.
Chapel Hill’s Peoples Academy is back in-person this winter and spring for the first time since the COVID-19 pandemic. Once it begins in late February, it will be the fifth year of the free program.
Sarah Poulton, the Downtown Special Projects Manager and a leader of the academy, recently spoke to 97.9 The Hill about what it provides to interested community members.
“It is a ten-session, five-week experience for anyone who lives, works, plays, prays or studies in Chapel Hill,” she said. “We meet at the [Chapel Hill Public Library] on Thursdays, and we do field trips on Saturdays. It’s for anyone who wants to know more about the town and what the town does, to come meet town staff, meet your neighbors, and learn about what each individual department does.”
The Peoples Academy will hold one evening classroom session and one outdoors session each week from February 16 through March 18. During the library days, participants will hear from leaders of various town departments. Meanwhile, Poulton described the weekends as opportunities to see some of the town’s various facilities. She said working in those experiential components was a critical addition from the first iteration of the Chapel Hill program to today’s.
“On Saturdays,” she said, “you’re going to try on fire equipment, you’re going to use a fire hose, you’re going to climb in the fire truck, you’re going to climb into the cherry picker at Public Works, you’re going to see inside the bus fix-it bay.
“This is not a classroom-only program,” Poulton added, “it is one that you’re going to be engaged with. That’s probably the biggest takeaway: you’ve got to get people up, get them moving – don’t just talk at them for a couple of hours and expect them to have a good time.”
The deadline to register for Chapel Hill’s Peoples Academy is Monday, February 6.
During the same stretch of winter, the Orange County Government Academy is returning as well. A cohort of residents will have a chance to learn about different county departments and responsibilities in alternating in-person and virtual sessions on Tuesday evenings.
Current Chair of the Board of Commissioners Jamezetta Bedford was among the inaugural class that graduated from the government academy. She told 97.9 The Hill while she didn’t experience the courses with the intention of becoming a county commissioner, it helped her gain valuable knowledge.
“It was helpful,” Bedford said. “I guess I wasn’t really thinking that much about serving at the time. But I was interested because I had been on the school board and [wanted to learn], ‘Well, how do they think? What’s their process, what is the mandates for school funding?’ That was really interesting and motivating.”
The county chair shared some of the visits to facilities that stood out to her the most over the nine-week course – before she and others graduated with a ceremony in front of the Board of Commissioners.
“You get to do some tours like the landfill and that’s incredibly interesting,” said Bedford, “and the recycling center with the insider scoop. We also toured the 911 center. You hear about the hometown heroes, but when you get to see them in action and stay out of the way at the same time, it’s really fascinating.”
“If you have an interest in county government,” she continued, “[are] thinking about serving on an advisory board, thinking about applying or running for commissioner one day, it’s a really good way to get that insider viewpoint and learn more.”
Orange County’s Government Academy begins on Tuesday, February 28 and is taking applications through Friday, February 24.
Register for the Chapel Hill People’s Academy in English here, with Mandarin and Spanish translations on the town’s website. Complete an application for Orange County’s Government Academy here.
Photo via the Town of Chapel Hill.
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