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No sidewalks for Centralia students

For months members of a student leadership class fought to get the City of Centralia and Lewis County commissioners to build sidewalks on the roads leading to their campus. They’ve been told there’s no money for their project.

<p>For months members of the leadership class fought to get the City of Centralia and Lewis County commissioners to build sidewalks on the roads leading to their campus. They’ve been told there’s no money for their project.</p>

CENTRALIA, Wash. -- A group of Centralia High School students got a lesson in civics - the hard way.

For months members of a student leadership class fought to get the City of Centralia and Lewis County commissioners to build sidewalks on the roads leading to their campus.

They’ve been told there’s no money for their project.

They made presentations to the council and commissioners, went on local radio stations and set up an online petition.

A lack of sidewalks or curbs, they said, made it dangerous for students to walk to school, especially on wet, dark mornings.

“None of us want to step in the puddles,” said student body president Morgan Fast. “So when we’re trying to avoid those puddles, there’s cars literally a foot next to you. It’s crazy.”

County Public Works Director Tim Elsea said while there's no funding available this year, or likely next, the students added “energy” to a project that’s been on the county’s road wish list for years.

Fast said while she was a little frustrated, she thinks she and her classmates succeeded in raising awareness and hopes the sidewalks will get built eventually.

“If we raise our kids in this town and they come to this high school, maybe there will be sidewalks by then and they can enjoy the work and determination we have put into it our senior year,” said Fast.

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