MEET AND TREAT: Deshler students meet city, county officials

A group of students from Deshler High School had the chance to meet with several local officials and discuss their jobs and the future during a recent field trip.

Melody Murphy’s Business and Legals Concepts class, part of the Deshler Career Tech Center, took a short walk through Tuscumbia from the school to the Colbert County Courthouse lawn on Sept. 20.

Once there, students, faculty and city and county officials shared some ice cream while giving the schoolkids a chance to talk to members of law enforcement and the judicial system.

On hand were Circuit Judge Kyle Brown, Sheriff Eric Balentine, Tuscumbia Police Chief Tony Logan, District Attorney Hal Hughston III and others.

“We have invited law enforcement, the sheriff’s department, Tuscumbia police, the judges, the district attorney’s office,” Murphy said. “It has been a great day. We had ice cream and cookies, and it’s a great day for networking with our community.”

Murphy said she takes her students on trips to see different city officials in action, including visits to the courthouse, police departments, EMA/911 and even the local jail.

She said she wanted to have the meet and greet to give the students a chance to engage with city and county officials outside of the typical setting.

“I wanted our kids to meet officials in our community in a different setting,” she said. “They see them as speakers. This allows them to see them outside those four walls and speak with them. This is a relaxed setting, so they feel more comfortable asking questions.”

Murphy said right now she and her students are going over the court system as part of learning about criminal and civil law.

Afterwards, Murphy said the focus turns to “everything they need to know for life after high school.”

“We talk about buying a car, buying a house, insurance, budgeting and retirement,” she said. “I think the best way to learn is to actually meet and greet everybody instead of just taking notes. That’s why we started off the semester getting out and coming to town.”