Three Seymour High School students are spending the summer before their senior year working at Seymour City Hall and learning about local government.
Paul Bontrager, Brandon Rodriguez and Cory Robinson have all been a part of Seymour Mayor Matt Nicholson’s Youth Council for the last couple of years and interviewed in February to work as paid interns.
After being hired out of four interviewees, the three interns have spent 15 hours a week at city hall.
All of the interns said they plan on attending college after graduating from high school and have aspirations of working in city government.
“Unlike some people, I enjoy it here a lot, and I hope to live here for probably the rest of my life,” Robinson said. “It’s already such a great town, and I want to see it grow, and I think the ideas that I have and the feedback that I get on them can help it grow even further than what it is.”
Bontrager said city interns get to work on their own projects on top of “busywork” that’s assigned to them, attend city meetings and work with department heads.
He and Rodriguez are currently working on an article about the 80th anniversary of the opening of the Freeman Municipal Airport.
Bontrager said he might run for city councilman someday, enjoys nature and would like to work for the Seymour Parks and Recreation Department.
He spoke about his own concerns and goals for the city.
“Obviously, city councilmen and the mayor need paid, but they shouldn’t be paid in excess,” he said. “That’s my personal belief.”
If he was working in city government, Bontrager said he would aim for Seymour to be an outside-focused city and expand on the outreach of local parks.
Rodriguez said he hopes to have some kind of government job after college and thinks getting experience at city hall will benefit him in his pursuits.
“It’s a fun job,” he said. “You get to make lots of connections to people.”
On top of his internship, Rodriguez works at Walmart, volunteers for Schneck Medical Center and practices for his school’s band.
He said he possibly wants to run for mayor someday, and a goal of his is to make city residents of different ethnic groups feel more included with the community.
Robinson said it’s a running joke in his family that he will be mayor someday, and he said he sees himself running for mayor and working in city politics.
He said he has always been interested in the city and how it runs and aspires to make Seymour a better place.
Robinson is currently working with Seymour Main Street on a website that provides information about the various city landmarks featured on a mural in downtown Seymour on the side of Artistic Impressions at 127 W. Second St.