The city of Torrance just announced the names of local kids selected for participation in its annual "Students & Government Day," during which the students -- eighth graders, all -- shadow various city workers and officials, from the Mayor on down, then kick off the evening's City Council meeting by playing those parts and conducting a little business.

The event is set for Tuesday, May 6, with the council-meeting portion kicking off at 7 p.m.

Winning students were chosen based on essays that addressed the topic: "a new student involved project that could help the Torrance community and enable students to make a difference in their community."

Without further ado, then, the selected students:

*Alex Baumgartner, St. James School
*Will Bingmann, Richardson Middle School
*Jasmine Galvan, St. Catherine Laboure School
*Maurick Gaunt, Madrona Middle School
*Amanda Goodwin, Magruder Middle School
*Aubree Graham, Bert Lynn Middle School
*Richard Herrada, Calle Mayor Middle School
*Gina Hong, Madrona Middle School
*Grace Huang, Madrona Middle School
*Hunter Johnson, First Lutheran School
*Jonathan MacNeil, Bert Lynn Middle School
*Makeena Martin, Calle Mayor Middle School
*Rebecca Miller, First Lutheran School
*Nicholas Mata, St. Catherine Laboure School
*Amie Morales, Casimir Middle School
*Leila Northington, Hull Middle School
*Caitlyn Pacina, Jefferson Middle School
*Ashley Poh, Casimir Middle School
*Cassida Ruggeri, Calle Mayor Middle School
*Chad Simon, Calle Mayor Middle School
*Michiko Sugimoto, Bert Lynn Middle School
*Lara Windisch, St. James School

Congrats to all.