More than 30 years later, the annual tradition of Student Government Day is still going strong in Peabody. 

On Student Government Day, seniors from Veterans Memorial High School are elected by their classmates to shadow elected officials and city employees during the day, and participate in a City Council and School Committee meeting at night. Parents and family members were also in attendance at City Hall for the mock meetings. 

“It’s just been an amazing and wonderful opportunity for us here at city government to learn a little bit from our students and about our students, but also for our students to learn about the city and what we do everyday, the different jobs, tasks, responsibilities,” Mayor Ted Bettencourt said.

Bettencourt also took the time to acknowledge city employees and their hard work to make events like Student Government Day happen.

“(Peabody) is certainly not a perfect community, but it’s a city that does a lot well,” Bettencourt said. “From our health care and finance professionals, city attorneys, engineers, police officers, firefighters, city councilors, School Committee members, a whole number of people contribute quietly every day behind the scenes.”

Superintendent Dr. Josh Vadala said that despite general criticisms of city government and how slow government can be, Peabody is unique in that tasks get done very quickly.

He said that Student Government Day is a great way for students to be able to witness how city workers cooperate.

“It’s something to celebrate,” Vadala said. “One of the big reasons is because the people in this room really work together. We have an incredible City Council that works very closely with our School Committee to get things done.”

Vadala gave an example of how quickly things get done in the city, saying that Peabody High School was the largest high school in the state to fully resume in-person classes after the COVID-19 pandemic. 

“Everyone in this room came together,” Vadala said.

Students were then matched with their city councilor and city government employee counterparts. The mock School Committee meeting was held, followed by the City Council meeting. In the end, Bettencourt commended the students for their participation in Student Government Day and their overall accomplishments throughout the school year.

“This year, it was very clear that this is a very special class,” Bettencourt said. “Incredibly respectful, interested in what we were talking about, I heard so many great comments from our city officials.”

Bettencourt also awarded nine scholarships on Thursday that came from contributions by some City Council and School Committee members, city officials, and school administration employees.

Two $500 scholarships were donated in the memory of Tim Spanos, a long-time city clerk who died last year.

“Tim… was an instrumental part of running this program for pretty much from the very beginning,” Bettencourt said. “(He) left a big hole in our city.”