The City of Evanston has put out a call for youth aged 14 to 19 to apply to join the Evanston Youth Council.
The Youth Council will have as its members Evanston youth, and Skokie youth who attend Evanston Township High School. Qualifications for service include interest in the following:
Working with peers to develop a better community for young people
Representing a youth perspective to City Council and Staff
Identifying major issues, challenges and solutions concerning youth
Learning leadership and advocacy skills in order to bring about change in the community.
The process involves filling out an application and attending a group interview.
A youth council has a lot of potential to benefit the City. There are many issues still unresolved, and perhaps many more not yet brought to light. Teens who are interested in identifying these issues have an opportunity to be heard and to work with peers and adults to try to solve them.
The District 202 School Board, which governs Evanston Township High School, took the step several years ago of recognizing the importance of a student voice in matters affecting students. Now the City is telling youth the same thing: Let us listen to you and work with you to improve the community.
Exciting as the youth council sounds, it will not be just another extra-curricular activity or something to decorate a resume for college. Participation in the youth council requires a commitment of time and work, but these qualities could prove unproductive without a passion for the City and its possibilities.
Many of us know the flaws of the town and the school districts; many of us are aware, if dimly, of how difficult it is to be a teen these days; most of us stay here because we are committed to the idea that in Evanston we can keep trying to make things better.
While some teens here are troubled and some are struggling, there are many, many youth who already demonstrate awareness, an eagerness to learn and a willingness to persevere and collaborate. Although you may be already involved in school, religious life and other worthy organizations, we hope many of you carefully consider membership in the Youth Council.
Readers may have noticed that the RoundTable no longer carries Martha Rosenberg’s cartoons. For professional reasons Ms. Rosenberg has decided to withdraw from cartooning Evanston political life.
Fans of Ms. Rosenberg’s cartoons should check the web periodically, as her humor, verbal and graphic, appears frequently in online publication.
The RoundTable and its readers will miss her humor, which was always timely and on-target about, but unfailingly gentle to, Evanston and human foibles; and we all wish her good luck with her future endeavors.