Salem — Town Hall was full of some of Salem's youngest citizens Tuesday morning for the annual Second Grade Town Meeting.

After First Selectman Kevin Lyden called the meeting to order and confirmed everyone's residency, the second-grade teachers presented the issue at hand: whether teachers should give out homework every weekend.

They were met with a hesitant but conclusive "no."

It's the fifth year that second-graders from Salem School have walked the short distance to Town Hall as part of their social studies class.

Just like a real town meeting, "citizens" walked up to the podium to voice their opinions before the five "selectmen." They had to introduce themselves as town residents, stay on topic and explain why they thought they should or should not have homework, and they roared with laughter and cried out "point of order" when someone stepped up to say they liked blueberry pie.

As Jackson Mikolinski approached the podium to make his point, he pointed emphatically.

"My name is Jackson, and I live in Salem," he said. "And I want to take away homework. Take away homework!"

Lyden followed Mikolinski as fellow citizens quietly cheered.

"I'm Mr. Lyden, and I think kids like homework!" He was quickly drowned out by a more emphatic "No!" from the second-graders.

"You have to let me talk!" he continued. "I think it's fair to have some homework, maybe some reading every Saturday and Sunday, 20 minutes of reading each day. That's not that bad."

Throughout the meeting, Lyden explained how the discussions allow citizens to express their concerns and maybe even see a new perspective on an issue. In the end, the selectmen agreed on a citizen vote, which was overwhelmingly "no."

Second-grade teacher Judy Butterworth said the teachers have had the students debate that question for a few years now because it's a question that they can relate to and argue well, and most of the time they vote strongly against weekend homework.

"The debate still goes on, on the way back" to Salem School, she said.

The field trip coincides with the first unit in the second-grade social studies curriculum, which focuses on citizenship and government.

Butterworth said the students learn how to be part of the democratic process, and they visit the town hall to learn about how the local government works and who works there.

They also visited the finance department and met with the resident state trooper. 

Town Hall is close to the school but many students have not been there, Butterworth said.

Throughout the visit, town hall staff quizzed the group on Salem trivia, such as where various town landmarks were built and when the town was founded.

Town Clerk Linda Flugrad showed off the vault and the old leather-bound volumes where land records dating back to 1819 are kept, noting that they were written in cursive writing.

"It's really important to learn to read cursive because you wouldn't be able to read this if you didn't know cursive," she told the class.

Flugrad rejoined the group after their town meeting concluded to say the oath that the students had to recite back, which made them swear to continue learning, listen to their teachers, eat their vegetables to stay healthy and be good citizens.

Each received a pen and a certificate confirming they took the oath.

a.hutchinson@theday.com

Twitter: @ahutch411