On Thursday, Feb. 27, four BHS seniors gained valuable insights into economics and government by attending the annual Economic Outlook Conference at the Kerr McGee Community Center.
The students — Colin Pendergast, Patrick Pillers, Daisy Risden, and Isabella Frisbee — represented BHS positively as they listened to various speakers discuss the current and future state of the community.
“I thought it was very informative and taught me a lot about how economics work on a city, county, and state scale,” said Pendergast. “I learned a lot about funding for the city and county work, and about new projects that are being completed in order to bring in a new source of income for the city.”
At the conference, community leaders also talked about past initiatives that have been completed or are still in progress within the community.
“At the event I learned about all of the goals for our local businesses and what progress they have had in the past couple years,” said Pillers. “[It’s] an excellent event to attend and learn a little about the town’s economy.”
For Risden, the school’s ASB vice president, a standout moment was discovering the interconnectedness of the local area.
“Understanding how much the base and our community communicate with one another as well as truly want to better the town is really interesting,” said Risden. “It was also interesting to learn how much effort and time goes into planning and renovating, such the rebuilding of Penny Pool. I look forward to going to more conferences like this one.”
The students were accompanied by BHS Registrar Jim Ledbetter, who praised both the students for their participation and the presenters for their informative remarks.
“Young, old, wealthy, not, healthy, sick, needy or not — all of the Ridgecrest area population sometimes needs to hear the plans for future projects and prospects for the City of Ridgecrest
and the surrounding area,” said Ledbetter. “It was an enjoyable, interesting, and informative event.”
