By Grace Braswell
Daily News

The City of LaGrange is proud of two interns, Olivia Smith and Iyanla Mosely, who have worked all summer on a video project about what they love about LaGrange. 

Smith and Mosely have worked on their project for six weeks, meeting once a week for about three hours. Over this course of time, the two girls wrote, directed, shot and edited videos about what they individually love about LaGrange. The videos were presented to LaGrange Mayor Jim Thornton and the LaGrange City Council on the evening of Tuesday, July 23. 

Katie Van Schoor, City of LaGrange marketing/communications manager, said the interns were scheduled for different times, meaning they had never really met until the day they presented their videos. 

“The interns were in office at different times, but they were working on very similar projects,” Van Schoor said. “It was nice to see what the girls came up with and to watch them express how they felt about LaGrange.” 

Mosely, a graduate of Callaway High School, is gearing up for her junior year at the University of Alabama. When asked what Mosely loved most about LaGrange, her answer was coming back home. Mosely grasped the theme of home and ran with it, creating a video containing her favorite places in LaGrange, as well as some of the places that feel like home to her. 

“All of the staff was extremely helpful,” Mosely said. “They gave me the confidence to go into my next semester of college and really pursue my career. The staff reminded me how much potential I have, and for that I am extremely grateful.”

When Mosely was not in office as an intern, she would frequently come back and help and volunteer around LaGrange. 

Smith, a recent graduate of LaGrange High School and member of the LaGrange Youth Council, is planning on going to Auburn University to major in communications. Smith’s inspiration for her video was her father, Skip Smith, who is an architect in LaGrange. Smith’s video featured several places in LaGrange that her father helped to create, including Sweetland and Wild Leap.

“I think the world of my dad,” Smith said. “He has won awards for his architecture, and it is so cool what he does with the new buildings in LaGrange.”

The videos the city interns created are available for the public to watch on the City of LaGrange – Government Facebook page.