City Times Staff

Plover Police Chief Dan Ault (left) talks with Pacelli student Mitch Jensen and Village Administrator Dan Mahoney inside the village’s police dept. on Oct. 27.

Jensen, 15, is a part of Teen Leadership Portage County and spent his day, which was a scheduled day off of school, shadowing officials in Plover government — voluntarily.

Mahoney said it was the first time village leaders had a program participant shadow their jobs, but the timing was ideal because department heads were finalizing their 2018 budget figures.

Jensen said along with municipal budgeting, he learned about a partnership between Stevens Point and Plover fire departments in sharing the costs of new fire engines.

“It’s interesting,” Jensen said. “I didn’t realize how complicated it could be.”

Teen Leadership Portage County is a program sponsored in part by the Portage Co. Business Council and open to all high school sophomores interested in building leadership skills through a hands-on learning environment.

For more information on the program, click here.