If each of us are doing our jobs well, we’re not only taking home a paycheck for tomorrow’s mortgage payment. We’re also laying another step toward a more prosperous future not only for ourselves, but for our loved ones and our neighbors.

That’s perhaps most true for those who work in government, whose very job description involves clearing the way — in ways big and small — for each of us to see brighter days ahead.

No one has a bigger stake in the success of that work than our children. And that’s why we’re thrilled to see Rogers City considering student representation on its Parks and Recreation and Downtown Development Authority boards.

Both boards were pushed by Charlevoix-based student group Government for Tomorrow to add nonvoting seats on their boards for 10th- or 11th-grade students.

We think that’s a great idea, and encourage both boards to put the idea into action.

We need to hear from our kids about what kind of place they want us to leave for them. Not only can that help us design a better future, it can make the students feel more engaged, which might encourage them to invest in this community instead of moving somewhere else — which would improve our future on its own.

The students involved would also gain valuable experience on civic engagement, which could make their individual futures better, regardless of where those futures take them.

This is a good idea all around, and we’d love to see it put into action everywhere.