Upwardly mobile: Geneva high schoolers get a look at city government workings

A little bit of shaking and screaming made for a fun and educational morning for 14-year-old Maddie Gamble, a freshman at Geneva High School, along with a few of her classmates.

“It was pretty fun going up, but sort of scary too,” was how Maddie described her ride in the Geneva Fire Department’s extension bucket.

Maddie and her friend Brianna Groneman, who also got a ride in the bucket, said they were able to see 12 water towers in the area after the fire bucket rose 75 feet in the air at the East Side Drive fire station on a recent Tuesday.

Almost 30 students had the opportunity to get a behind-the-scenes look at the operations of local government. The students were job shadowing city staff members, along with police, fire, and public works departments as part of a future government leaders program that has been running for more than 10 years.

Quinn Falk, 15, had the opportunity to tour the police station before going on a ride with a police officer. While talking with Det. Matt Dean, Quinn had the chance to discuss how the Geneva detective handles his job.

“I’m not sure, but this may be a path that I go down,” Quinn remarked after spending part of the morning with the officers.