More than 150 South Miami Elementary School students protested outside City Hall on Monday, May 22, but it was all part of the learning process.

At 9:40 a.m. the students marched around City Hall, 6130 Sunset Drive, holding bright green, orange and yellow posters reading, "Save Our Fields."

South Miami Elementary students were told that the City of South Miami wanted to tear down their physical education field and replace it with a parking garage.

The students, in hope of defending their rights against a mock resolution proposing the tearing down of their physical education field, brought their protest inside City Hall. The students came before South Miami officials during a mock commission meeting voicing their opinion.

The meeting began with each member of the board giving a brief introduction and Mayor Julio Robaina explained how commission meetings are conducted. He also told the youngsters how the panel makes laws to govern the city and how the people must abide by those laws.

After the introductions, Mayor Robaina gave his opinion on the mock issue. "These children really don't need the field. A parking lot is needed more," he said.

The city manager, played by Fernando Rodriguez, said the garage is very needed because neighbors are complaining about people parking in their lawns.

After Rodriguez spoke, the children were allowed to state their opinions.

"Mr. Mayor, please try to put yourself in our shoes for a second, and then you'll see what we are going through," said nine-year-old Janelle Santos. "This is so important to us, but also for the teachers. And think about all the animals who will lose their homes if you tear down our playing field."
"Do you think that Arnold Schwarzenegger sits in front of the TV and eats snacks all day?" asked Lucianna Lamadrid. "Do you want us all to explode? That is what will happen. We'll get so fat that we'll explode."

"If you place a parking lot in the playing field and a fire breaks out, all the diesel in the cars will cause a big explosion," said Evan Downs. "We need our playing field."

All of the children's pleas were similar. The children stated the need for the playing field in order to remain healthy, both physically and mentally.

A comment made by "Fred", played by city manager Charles Scurr, outraged the children even more. "P.E. stands for parking everywhere, not physical education."

Placing a parking lot underneath the playing field or using part of the field for the parking lot instead of the whole field were alternatives offered by the students.

After all the children had given their opinion, it was up to the board to come up with a decision. Miami-Dade County School Board representative, Mante Sebastes Morse and Congresswoman Ileana Ros-Lehtinen, honorary commissioners at the mock meeting, voted to turn down the resolution of placing a parking garage at the location.

The decision came down to Mayor Robaina. After expressing his deep love for lizards, he voted down the resolution.

"I would never think about building a parking garage on your school or any other school," he added.

The purpose of the mock meeting was to give the children a taste of how city government works and the impact their involvement can have in the community.

"KAPOW, KIDS AND THE POWER OF WORK, gives students hands on experience with people in the workplace and the skills needed to be successful in real-world jobs," said Commissioner Mary Scott Russell, a KAPOW volunteer at the mock commission meeting.

The visit to City Hall was part of a yearlong, school-to-career program between the City of South Miami, Chamber South and KAPOW. Since last year more than 20 city volunteers, including the mayor, have been making monthly visits to South Miami and Ludlam Elementary schools to teach lessons that connect learning in the classroom to the real-world workplace in order to expose students to career options.

After the mock meeting, the students were divided into groups and took tours of the Police Department and Jean Willis Park, where they had the chance to work with the City's Parks and Recreation Department's Landscaping division in planting flowering trees.