Students from six area high schools had the opportunity Thursday to see firsthand how Carbon County operates during the county's annual Government Day.

Students from Marian, Palmerton, Jim Thorpe, Weatherly, Lehighton and Carbon Career & Technical Institute high schools spent a day observing officials doing what they do best: run the county.Students visited the Carbon County Courthouse and Courthouse Annex in Jim Thorpe and the county Emergency Management Agency and 911 Communications Center in Nesquehoning.They talked with various county officials, including Roberta Brewster, court administrator; Judge Joseph Matika; Sheriff Tony Harvilla; Robert Crampsie, county controller; Ronald Sheehan, county treasurer; Emmett McCall, recorder of deeds; and Robert Miller, county coroner to learn what goes into operating each department to make sure the county runs smoothly.At the weekly Carbon County Commissioners' meeting, officials explained to students about different decisions and how the county operates some programs.Specifically, the board went into detail about the advertisement inviting companies to bid for food service at the Carbon County Correctional Facility.Commissioner William O'Gurek said the current contract at the prison will expire this year. He said the prison serves approximately 206,000 meals annually to the inmates.Thomas J. Gerhard added that this number is continually increasing as the population grows.As of Thursday, the prison had an in-house inmate population of 242, but with inmates who are temped out to other facilities, the total population of Carbon County incarcerations is approximately 290.The board then turned the spotlight on the students and encouraged them to ask any questions to help better their understanding of how the county operates.Questions included the breakdown of costs in the prison's approximate $4 million budget, how long it takes to put the annual budget together, if funding goes to help emergency services, the future of the prison once it exceeds capacity, the drug problem at the prison and in the community and if the county would be affected if Keystone Opportunity Zones were abolished.Those in attendance also shared their career goals, which included a homicide detective, teacher, military, and drug and alcohol counselor.The students then traveled to the Emergency Management Agency, where they were treated to lunch and more discussions from Mark Nalesnik, EMA coordinator; and Gary Williams, 911 director, on county government infrastructure, as well as a tour of the site.Carbon County Government Day was the idea of former Commissioner Charles Getz, based on a similar event he ran while he served as a Kidder Township supervisor.The first county Government Day was held on April 26, 2001.