By Mitchell Clarke
Cardinia Shire Council CEO Carol Jeffs enlisted the help of a junior chief executive officer as part of children’s week in the shire.
John Henry Primary School captain Jaimee Ferrara joined Ms Jeffs on Friday 25 October, after being selected to take part in council’s ‘CEO for a day’ competition.
The program aimed to provide a local student leader with valuable experience and insight into engaging with the community, planning and managing council’s budget and facilities, providing leadership and creating solutions to help all within the shire.
Jaimee said being a good CEO meant meeting new people, remaining connected to the community, always looking into the future and learning from the past.
Throughout her day at the top of the helm, Jaimee participated in a Walk to School event at her primary school, toured the facilities at Cardinia Life, visited MyPlace and helped lead a supported playground session as part of children’s week.
She also met with a range of people across the community including mayor Graeme Moore, Bass MP Jordan Crugnale, council’s active and passive reserves team and the Cardinia Shire Council’s children ambassadors.
“Being CEO for the day, I think that council were really trying to listen to children and the program is a perfect example of that,” Jaimee said.
“It’s important to represent all citizens of the shire when it comes to important decision making and knowing how someone else sees the world is an important life skill.
“As Dr. Seuss said, a person’s a person no matter how small.”
Recognised by UNICEF, Cardinia Shire Council has been recognised as a Child Friendly City since 2015 and is the first council to appoint children’s ambassadors.
