Though many things have shut down this past year, the youth commission churning out amazing projects has certainly not. For the 2020-2021 term, we have three task forces working on separate projects: informing on important topics via social media, organizing a community clean up, and proposing a policy change. So, let’s go over what each of these teams are working on!
Social Media:
First up is our social media group, consisting of Ani, Jerlene, Ande and Alex. This group’s main goal is to educate the youth and the general public about important issues through our Instagram page. The group meets outside of general Commission meetings about once a month to discuss what topics they want to research and create graphics for, as well as split the work up. All members research, create, and post one of the four posts each month. In addition to posts, this group has also worked on additional videos to go along with certain month’s topics. So far, they have done COVID-19, Black history month, climate change, and minority oppression and genocides. Looking forward to May, they are planning to raise awareness on mental health and suicide prevention. Jerlene wanted to be in this group to bring awareness to topics that she is passionate about. She explained that, “a big part of creating a great community environment is to be educated, and I believe this project is working toward that!”. Follow the youth commission @wcyouthcommission on Instagram to see the fruits of this group’s labor!
Community Clean Up:
Our next project is the community clean up group, led by Surya, Arjun, Colin, and Haron. This group hosted a clean up of Borges Ranch’s trails on Saturday, April 24th. Since people have been using the trails in our community more frequently during the pandemic, they thought it would be a great idea to clean them up so that even more people could enjoy them! As Surya said, “I’m always on the trails and noticed that they needed cleaning, so I realized it would be fun to have all of the commissioners and the community out in the trails cleaning them up.” The group put a lot of hard work in communicating with local open space rangers, planning logistics, gathering materials, and doing outreach, and the event was a success! Most of the commissioners and many community members pitched in and made our open spaces even more beautiful than they were before. Councilmember Haskew even joined us! All commissioners and volunteers brought their own mask, gloves, trash bags, and water bottle, as well as filled out a COVID-19 screening form when they arrived.
Policy:
The policy group has the largest number of Commissioners on it: Seena, Michelle, Hadil, Prapti, Abigail, Rebecca, and Dina. This task force was created in order to bring about measurable change directly benefiting the youth in the form of policy. After lengthy deliberation, they settled on the idea of attaining a seat for a nonvoting youth member on every city commission.
This group has gotten off to an amazing and productive start! They did plenty of research, defined their mission, (to get a preferential-voting high school student on each city commission for educational purposes) drafted up their ordinance, and are now starting to present their proposal to each Commission! This is also an incredible learning process for this group. As Seena said, “I was interested in getting involved in and familiar with local government practices and procedures!”. Everyone on the commission is extremely excited and passionate about this project, and they can’t wait to hopefully expand the opportunity for youth voices to be heard in the city to other dedicated individuals.
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