Sierra High senior Alexander Castaneda did not envision himself as the City of Manteca mayor earlier Thursday morning.

Neither did Alyssa Carvajal in the role of City Manager nor Tyler Watkins as City Clerk.

They were among the 15 or so local high school students who came away with a better understanding of local government following Youth in Government Day.

As for being assigned mayor for the day?

“I was surprised – but then the (role of) vice mayor was taken,” said Castaneda, who shadowed Mayor Ben Cantu in preparation of the mock special meeting held in the Council Chambers.

Youth in Government Day used the actual agenda scheduled for later that afternoon, covering homelessness and positive involvement with local government and the community.

“My mother and I do our part to help the homeless,” said Carvajal, who is a sophomore at Manteca High.

She’s quickly getting acquainted to the Family City having moved to Manteca from San Jose about a year ago. Carvajal received a crash course on everything from Spreckels Sugar to the inner working of local development thanks to Interim City Manager Toni Lungren.

Lungren has been with the City of Manteca for 16 years and 20 years altogether of working in local government.

Carvajal, who shadowed Lungren, learned the role of City Manager, which is to be “under the direction of the mayor, plan, organize, control and direct the operations of the City, providing support of the city council, providing direction and vision for the organization and managing the city’s financial affairs; provide overall leadership and direction to the entire city government, implementing the policies of the city council, (and) supervise and evaluate the performance of assigned personnel.”

The City of Manteca, she discovered, is one of the largest employers in town – along with Manteca Unified – with about 430.

Watkins of Manteca High shadowed City Clerk Cassandra Candini-Tilton. He found out that part of the responsibility of city clerk is to serve as the catalyst at the public sessions.

Those who took part in Youth in Government Day came from Manteca High, East Union High, Sierra High and Calla High.

“You may be from four different high schools but you make up one community – we’re one family here,” said Cantu on the common goal of those who serve the public.