Published on March 09, 2023
Every weekday, you’ll find 18-year-old Dominick Miszewski right where you’d expect; sitting among his peers in the classroom. But each Wednesday night for the last month, the Maricopa High School senior has found himself surrounded by classmates much more his senior. “Yeah, I noticed that they’re older than me, but I feel like it’s a good range of ages,” Miszewski says, and he hopes his presence can help bridge a generational information gap. “You want to take pride in where you live. I feel like the people at my school, my classmates and my peers, don’t really hear the same message that I’m hearing.” Dominick is enrolled in the Maricopa Citizen Leadership Academy, a program designed to give participants a deeper understanding of the inner workings of municipal government. Over the course of four weeks, attendees have delved into Maricopa’s rich history, organizational structure, core mission, financial strategies, and explored a road map for how a city’s infrastructure is laid. In a session that featured a crowd favorite interaction with MPD K-9 officer Karma, Dominick had his eyes opened to the work that goes into keeping Maricopa residents safe. “I didn’t know how genuinely amazing our public safety program is. I knew that we focused a lot on fire and police and medical but I didn’t know how extensive it was and how much time and training and effort goes into that. I thought it was amazing!” The Academy also gives participants a chance to interact with elected officials on a more personal level. Dominick says having the opportunity to make an individual connection changed his perspective on what it means to be a public servant. “It’s incredible to be that close to public officials. To feel like it’s not, ‘Mayor Smith the woman of legend’, right? I shook her hand. I had a conversation with her. It made me feel like she is a person. It made me feel like I was her citizen. It was much more personable that just reading in the paper or watching something on TV.” The median age of Maricopa residents is 35-year-old and skewing younger, partly due to a rise in Dominick’s demographic. With more than 5,000 15-19-year-olds in the city, that age group represents roughly 7% of Maricopa’s population. Dominick strongly believes that engaging his peers is key for the city’s continued success. “Every time I come back from one of these events, I’ll go to my friends at school, I’ll tell them about it in conversation in passing and they can’t get enough of it. They want to know more. They want to know how they can get involved next time.” Just as Dominick discovered a way to bring his civics class to life, he wants to challenge his peers to do the same. “Be open. There are city council meetings. There are newsletters to be signed up for. There are classes to sign up for. If that’s a route that you want to go down, which I definitely recommend, just be on the lookout and grab what you see. That’s how I did it.” Wither it’s staffing Maricopa’s special events, helping out at Copper Sky, working with senior citizens at our Community Center, cleaning up the streets with the Keep Maricopa Beautiful campaign, signing up for MPD’s Cadet program or volunteering with the Maricopa Fire and Medical Department, there are so many ways for all to get involved, including some programs specifically geared for teens! Check the link below and find your invitation to come build a city with us!