You never know what the Mayor’s Youth Council is going to be doing. One minute, they may be sitting in on a Columbus City Council meeting and by nightfall, they may be dancing the night away to raise money for children with cancer.
No matter where they are, they’re sure to have fun, Youth Council President Breauna Gardner said Monday afternoon. Gardner, a senior at Columbus High School, is one of 31 area high-schoolers serving on this year’s Youth Council — a distinction she has held since her sophomore year.
At its 2007 inception, the civic group was made up of predominantly eighth through 12th graders from Columbus city schools, but since that time, they have limited their membership to ninth graders through 12th graders, while expanding their reach to include students in Lowndes County high schools as well as in local private schools.
The diversity is part of the appeal, Gardner said. Initially, she thought she wouldn’t have anything in common with the private school students, she said, but once they began talking, they discovered common interests, and new friendships were born.
Now, meeting new people is one of her favorite parts of the group, which convenes twice a month either at Columbus City Hall or the Columbus Municipal Complex. Similar groups can be found around the nation with the same goal: Bringing students together to share with, and learn from, local government leaders while fostering a sense of community service, civic pride and responsibility.
Christina Lemmermann, a senior at Caledonia High School, said her role as vice president of the Youth Council has helped her mature, teaching her how to be a leader among her peers
Recently, the group planned a youth block party at the Columbus Riverwalk as part of ongoing efforts to give young people more to do in Columbus, and last year, they joined the Starkville Mayor’s Youth Council in organizing the Mississippi Municipal League’s annual Youth Leadership Summit, which was held at Mississippi State University.
College preparation is a big part of the Youth Council, said Kennetra Floyd, chairman of the organization and a staff member at Cook Elementary Fine Arts Magnet School.
In order to be accepted, students must have a recommendation from a school counselor and teacher, maintain an acceptable grade-point average and pass an interview, much like they would have to do for a job.
Once they are admitted, they tour college campuses, learn to write resumes and get an inside view of the inner workings of local government.
That aspect has been enlightening, Lemmermann said, adding she never realized the mayor didn’t make all the decisions for the city.
While broadening her network of friends and acquaintances, the organization has also increased her understanding of the community where she lives, through service projects with local nonprofits like Columbus-Lowndes Humane Society and Caledonia’s R.I.D.E.S. Program, which uses horses as therapy for children with mental, emotional or physical impairments.
They even get to advise the mayor on issues concerning today’s youth. Their latest complaint? There’s not enough for young people to do, leading them to hang out on the streets and get mixed up in dangerous activities, Gardner said.
The mayor has a genuine interest in their perspectives, Floyd said, adding, “He wants youth to realize he’s got their back and their voice is important to him.”
“It prepares them for the next level, to work hard and expect greater (of themselves), to not be confined to one frame of mine,” Floyd said.
Activities on the horizon for the group include hearing a speech by Environmental Protection Agency officials currently working on the Kerr-McGee Superfund cleanup, and possibly a Halloween costume party.
And of course, there will be the annual Mayor’s Thanksgiving Luncheon, which is where Gardner got her first glimpse of the Youth Council in action.
“I said, ‘I want to be a part of that someday,'” she said. “I was so excited I got to be part of this great organization.”
Gardner hopes to attend Howard University in Washington, D.C. or Delaware State University in Dover, Del. She plans to major in biology and attend dental school.
Lemmermann hopes to attend the University of Southern Mississippi in Hattiesburg, where she will study nursing.
Floyd said many Youth Council participants have gone on to college, with at least one — Wesley Gordon — attending Harvard University in Boston now.
“They go on to do bigger and better things,” Floyd said. “I would love to say the Mayor’s Youth Council is part of what helps them get to that next level.”
Carmen K. Sisson is the former news editor at The Dispatch.
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