Mayor at the middle school

WASHINGTON — Mayor Jaron Rosien spoke with a group of seventh graders about his profession Thursday morning as a guest speaker for a career education class taught by Erik Buchholz.

“My job, if I was describing it to you, my job is me, but really, for every job you guys are picking, your job is the same,” said Rosien, who is both the mayor and a self-employed restaurant owner. “For all of you, as you do your career, your job is always you doing your obligations … ultimately, as you find your way, your job is you.”

Students asked Rosien an array of questions, ranging from the details of his yet-unused veto authority to his discretion to install a water park.

One student asked Rosien’s favorite part about being mayor.

“What I love best about my job is that it is non-partisan,” he replied. “It’s about solutions to our local problems. My favorite part about my job is I don’t have to get all messy into politics, it’s about helping our community.”

Buchholz said the class brought in a handful of speakers over several weeks to give students perspective on different careers.

“When you think what does a seventh grader, a 12-year-old, 13-year-old know about the world of work, my job is to introduce it to them for the first time,” Buchholz said. “The questions they have are pretty good curiosity questions.”

Rosien said he was more happy to be invited.

“With the mayor job there’s a number of privileges and a number of obligations, and I would consider this to be a privilege,” he said. “It was a no-brainer to say yes to, because it’s fun for me to be able to talk to young people about the job.”

Comments: Kalen.McCain@southeastiowaunion.com