The city of Renton recently graduated the inaugural class of its Civic Academy, a program intended to give residents a better understanding of how the local government works.

Renton Deputy Chief Administrative Officer Kristi Rowland said the program covers topics such as what the city does and doesn’t do, the structure of the government and the city’s programs. Rowland said it is also an opportunity for residents to get to know some of the staff and for the staff to get to know more of the community.

The academy consisted of five sessions over six weeks with the participants meeting every Thursday night for three hours. They finished with a graduation ceremony where they met with Renton City Council members and the mayor.

“It’s a big commitment,” Rowland said. “In total, they donated 15 hours, plus graduation, to learning about the city. It was pretty amazing.”

Rowland said the class was put on by almost 40 city employees from seven of the eight departments and the presenters were department heads. She said they had tours and interactive “walk in the shoes of city staff” experiences for participants. The free course also provided meals for participants.

Rowland said she believes this is the first time doing a course like this since at least 2013. She said when she was pitching the idea to her team and the mayor she was unsure if anyone would want to take the course.

“It turned out we had two people for every seat we had available, sign up. We had over 60 applicants sign up. We did fill 35 from that 60 plus list. Two dropped out so we graduated 33,” Rowland said. “They’re kind of somewhat of our ambassadors now because they’ve had a peak behind the curtain that not a lot of people get.”

Rowland said the makeup of the cohort was interesting with people ranging in ages from their 20s to their 70s with varied knowledge and experience with the city government.

“It was a really diverse group,” Rowland said. “We had people who just moved to the city, had no prior relationship with the city and just wanted to get a better understanding and then we had members of boards and commissions who’ve served some time, but didn’t really know outside of that view what else the city does.”

Rowland said they already have the next cohort queued up and plan to have the event annually to coincide the course conclusion with the yearly State of the City address. She said they have considered partnering with the college or schools to bring this course to younger people.

“We really need to get people excited about public service and see how cool it is,” Rowland said.