Gaithersburg Selects Srinidhi Guruvayurappan as Junior Mayor (PHOTO)
Remember this name: Srinidhi Guruvayurappan. She’s a fourth grader at Diamond Elementary School, and she’s Gaithersburg’s next Junior Mayor.
Guruvayurappan is scheduled to make her first appearance at the State of the City address on April 14, where the gavel will be passed by current Junior Andrew Volat, also of Diamond Elementary School. Local leaders plan to formally introduce Srinidhi to the public at the Mayor and City Council’s May 2nd meeting.
The “If I Were Mayor…” contest, sponsored statewide by the Maryland Municipal League (MML), the Maryland Mayors’ Association and the Chesapeake Employers Insurance Company, invites fourth grade students to submit essays describing what they would do as Mayor. This year, students were asked what new programs or services they would create to help citizens lead a healthier life and make “Happy Town” a safer place to live.
While all essays from Gaithersburg students were submitted to MML for consideration in its statewide contest, the 229 entries essays were independently reviewed by members of the Gaithersburg Educational Enrichment Committee for consideration as Gaithersburg’s Junior Mayor. Seven finalists were invited to City Hall for a video interview, and Srinidhi was selected as the winner.
When asked during her interview what she would do to make Gaithersburg a healthier and safer place, Srinidhi said that she would organize a Food Festival and have people bring healthy dishes, “which the kids will judge, because they know what tastes best.”
In her essay, Srinidhi said that to encourage “Happy Town” to become a healthier city, she would suggest that “Happy Town follow First Lady Michelle Obama’s ‘Gimme Five’ program. Gimme Five helps kids and adults eat better and stay healthy and active.”
The Junior Mayor accompanies Mayor Jud Ashman and members of the City Council at public ceremonies and events throughout the year. You can read Guruvayurappan’s winning essay on the city’s website, in the documents queue to the right.
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