> Xtreme Teens > Safe Summer Blog

Area Teens Interview for the Youth Advisory Council

0 Digs

Teens from throughout Prince George’s County with a desire to represent their communities as youth came to the Brentwood Arts Exchange to interview for the Youth Advisory Council on Tuesday, July 31. The council is a way to involve teens in decision making and legislation dealing with Xtreme Teens programs and to represent youth in their communities. “It’s gives you the chance to go in front of the decision makers in the county,” said Adriane Clutter, Youth Services Specialist, to the group. “You will be providing a youth voice in places where we don’t already have a voice.” The interview was set up like a speed-dating exercise, where teens selected for this round of interviews spoke to a staff member for around five minutes before rotating to another staff member. Interviewees spoke to three different staff members, who were asking questions that doubled as focus group questions for the “20-40” plan for how the teen programs can grow. The county is expected to grow by 150,000 people, and one of the goals of the Youth Advisory Council is to make sure teen voices are present during this growth. Interviewees got to practice their professional skills, speaking with staffers amongst artwork all created by teens displayed in the Brentwood gallery. After the third interview, youth signed a commitment form, detailing how Youth Council members are expected to attend bi-monthly teen coordinator meetings and quarterly full-council meetings (the first being on September 12). “It is an honor, it is a commitment,” Clutter said. Carmin Chappell, 15, read about the Youth Advisory Council on the Xtreme Teens website. She attended some teen programs in the past and is interested in making a wider range of programs available for teens, especially art and music programs. “I thought it was a really great program to have teens involved in the decision making,” Chappell added. Also interviewing, Marquis Reed, 21, heard about the program at the Sports and Learning Complex. He noticed the lack of youth involvement in local government and likes mentoring. He hopes to be able to represent his community on the council.