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12 <br />recruiting youth to be <br />municipal champions <br />The.following.are.a.few.suggestions.for.. <br />strategies.to.recruit.youth.for.advisory.. <br />committees.or.councils,.or.how.to.include. <br />youth.representatives.on.municipal.council.. <br />Individual.communities.will.have.to.evaluate. <br />whether.they.prefer.candidates.to.be.selected. <br />from.the.community.at.large.or.from.within. <br />local.high.schools. <br />EXAMPLES <br />•.Have.students.nominate.candidates.from. <br />their.local.high.school.by.submitting.. <br />maximum.250-word.essays.about.why. <br />they.think.their.nominees.would.be.. <br />passionate.and.effective.representatives.. <br />The.essays.could.be.submitted.for.judging. <br />to.high.school.officials.or.to.councillors. <br />elected.in.the.candidates’.wards. <br />•.Request.that.a.member,.or.members,.of.. <br />a.high.school’s.student.council.participate. <br />in.the.municipal.council’s.chosen.youth. <br />representation.initiative. <br />•.Invite.local.high.schools.to.hold.. <br />elections.for.their.allotted.number.. <br />of.representatives. <br />youth engagement in action: <br />town of Pelham <br />With.the.establishment.of.its.Mayor’s.Youth. <br />Advisory.Council.(MYAC),.the.Town.of.. <br />Pelham.has.seen.firsthand.the.impact.these. <br />initiatives.can.have.in.engaging.youth.in.. <br />municipal.issues. <br />Structure of the Council <br />The.MYAC .was.implemented.through.a.town. <br />by-law.amendment.and.has.a.constitution. <br />that.outlines.its.structure..The.council.is.com- <br />posed.of.15.to.20.youth.from.grades.7.to.12,. <br />with.several.appointed.each.year.from.every. <br />elementary.and.high.school.across.Pelham.. <br />The.MYAC.meets.monthly,.and.an.executive. <br />committee.made.up.of.a.president,.secretary,. <br />treasurer,.and.others.meets.bi-weekly..While. <br />the.mayor.attends.meetings.to.update.the. <br />MYAC.on.town.developments,.the.meetings. <br />are.chaired.and.led.by.the.youths.themselves. <br />The.Pelham.MYAC.is.an.example.of.a.small. <br />group.of.young.people.doing.an.excellent. <br />job.of.engaging.the.wider.youth.population.. <br />It.is.recommended.that.at.least.one.MYAC. <br />representative.from.each.school.be.on.the. <br />top Five tips <br />for Your council <br />to be engaged <br />and successful <br />1 Make sure that all <br /> meetings with your <br /> youth advisory council <br />or youth representatives are <br />scheduled regularly. one of <br />the biggest complaints from <br />those who serve in these roles <br />is that they lose interest or do <br />not feel their input is valued <br />because they are not routinely <br />engaged by the elected <br />officials they are intended <br />to be advising.