Photo by Kirk Ross.

Students, most of them from Cissy O’Neal’s ninth grade social studies class at McDougle Middle School, took up the temporary roles of mayor, members of the board of aldermen and concerned citizens offering their opinions to the board at the annual Town Hall Day for Teens Monday at Town Hall. Wendell Rogers, the recreation supervisor with the town’s Recreation and Parks Department, who helped organize the event, said he was impressed with the amount of thought and preparation the young people put into the meeting. Town Manager Steve Stewart said he thoroughly enjoyed the discussion, the student’s thoughtfulness and their interest in local government. In the photo above, Mayor Anne Myers (brightly colored hair, in the middle) and Aldermen Alexa Savelli, Chris Rupert, Elizabeth Wilkes, Amelia Riely, William Hutchison and Manoj Paladugu hear a presentation on a proposed new town teen center. Other items on the agenda for the evening included housing for the homeless, sidewalks and bike lanes for Davie Road and/or James Street and, in a demonstration that the students have been paying close attention lately, a proposed new parking lot for downtown.