Cumberland County Middle School took a big step toward citizen and student leadership recently when school leaders saw fit to form a student government association (SGA).

The idea behind forming the student government was to foster ownership and pride in the middle school for students, as reported by The Herald.

The SGA will do just that and it will also create a learning of cooperation among students, instill ideals of democratic representation and foster decision-making skills — all of which are needed for our constantly dividing legislatures across the state and America.

The public service skills and traits that the SGA will teach these young students will carry them very, very far.

I regret that I didn’t become involved in student government until my senior year at Buckingham County High School, when I served as deputy school board representative alongside my classmate Sarah Dorrier.

Together we attended school board meetings, taking notes, reporting back to the student council and keeping the school board abreast of activities and events at the high school.

Those board meetings were some of the first in-depth experiences with local government I ever had — instilling knowledge that eventually landed me my first reporting job with the local newspaper.

The middle school’s actions to form a student government will impact students’ development as leaders in their school and community for years to come.

Jordan Miles is managing editor of The Farmville Herald. His email address is jordan.miles@farmvilleherald.com.