Grade 7 Glad Park Public School student becomes mayor of Stouffville for the day

Kaylee Tse won the Mayor for the Day contest

Yorkregion.com
May 12, 2023
Simon Martin

What’s it like to be the Stouffville mayor for a day? Just ask Glad Park Public School Grade 7 student Kaylee Tse. She was “sworn in” at the May 3 council meeting as the Mayor for the Day.

Kaylee was picked up from Glad Park P.S. in style by a fire truck from Station 5-1. From there, Mayor Iain Lovatt and staff escorted her on several tours of town facilities including the operations centre, fire station 5-1, the Leisure Centre and Town Hall. Kaylee was also a guest at the new Memorial Park playground ribbon cutting.

Following dinner with the mayor, council and staff, Kaylee was officially sworn in as mayor for the day and opened the 7 p.m. council meeting in the mayor’s seat, where she shared her ideas on how to make Whitchurch-Stouffville a better place to live.

“Being the mayor for the day and seeing the behind-the-scenes operations was an eye-opening experience,” said Kaylee. “I have greater appreciation for all that is needed to get Stouffville to where it is today. Thank you, Mayor Lovatt, for all you have done for our community!”

Kaylee’s essay called for the town to focus on residents’ mental health and physical health by encouraging them to get outside and active through programs like community walks.

“Kaylee’s submission stood out above the rest not only because of her ideas being relevant, feasible and well-researched but also because of her articulate delivery and empathetic tone,” Lovatt said. “I got into politics to help people; it’s my favourite part of the job, and I can see that same spark in Kaylee. She had all members of council and senior leadership impressed by her thoughtful ideas and confident delivery.”

Open to Whitchurch-Stouffville students in grades 5-7, the Mayor for the Day contest launched in February and gave students an opportunity to share their ideas of how to make Whitchurch-Stouffville an even better place to live. Applicants were invited to submit either an essay or a three-minute video.