A place for students to talk and have their own voice.
By: Rachel Silverman
Helen Dao has a vision for young people in Princeton.
"We want to provide teenagers with options about how to spend their free time," the Princeton Family YMCA director of operations said.
"We want to get them engaged in developing programs for the community, to reach out to teens not part of anything at this point," she continued energetically.
So Ms. Dao along with fellow visionaries Randi Lund of The Arts Council of Princeton, Gary DeBlasio of Corner House and Susan Conlon of the Princeton Public Library is working to establish a Princeton Youth Council.
The council, which held its first meeting Jan. 19, is meant to engage area teens in constructive, thoughtful dialogue.
"It’s a place for students to talk and have their own voice," Ms. Lund explained.
At the first meeting, for example, the 24 teens in attendance discussed current opportunities for youth in the area and deliberated over the idea of starting a teen center.
"Some of the key issues addressed were how to organize community events that interest teens, how to let people know about them, and taking responsibility in planning future events and programs," a news release on the group’s formation explained.
With Stuart Country Day School of the Sacred Heart and Princeton Day School students involved as well, the council also is meant to act as a bridge between public and private schools in the area.
"It’s a townwide initiative to bring all the high schools together," Ms. Dao said.
Youth Council students are diverse in other ways, too, as they represent a wide range of community involvement, including the Corner House Student Board, the Coalition for Peace Action, the Latin American Task Force, the library’s Teen Advisory and After-School Advisory boards, The Arts Council of Princeton and the Teen Advisory Group of the Princeton Alcohol and Drug Alliance.
The new board also aims to attract students from a mix of ethnic and racial groups.
"The students come from a variety of different cultures," Ms. Dao said. "They represent black, Latino and white backgrounds."
The council, which will hold its next meeting Thursday at the YMCA, grew out of conversations within the Princeton Youth Concerns Committee, a monthly discussion group chaired by John Witherspoon Middle School Principal William Johnson.
At Thursday’s meeting, the Youth Council will determine a series of formal goals and priorities for the new teen group, Ms. Dao said. All high-school-aged students from public-, private- or home-school backgrounds are welcome to attend this event, provided they pre-register with one of the Youth Council facilitators.
Over time, however, the council may eliminate the open call, sponsor-led format in favor of student representatives running the program on their own. "It’s not a set board right now," Ms. Dao said. "But we might look toward that option in the future.
"It might go more toward the students," she continued. "They are really interested in taking on a leadership role here."