By Amy Batista, Special Writer
EAST WINDSOR – Mayor Janice Mironov proclaimed National Volunteer Week and recognized the East Windsor student members on township boards and commissions during the council meeting on March 22.
“We’ve identified an individual or a group that has contributed to the town through volunteer efforts that we want to recognize,” said Mayor Mironov.
For Volunteer Week this year, township officials decided that they wanted to focus on a program that they established a few years ago. The mayor and council had created a program of appointing high school students to township boards and committees in an effort to involve young people in their municipal government.
“We’ve been very excited by the results,” said Mayor Mironov. “It’s been a tremendous benefit to the town and to our high school students who have opted to participate.”
The mayor said the township created the program with hopes that it would provide an opportunity for young people to learn more about their local government and how it works.
“We also hoped that as they grow in their lives and as citizens in the community, that they would be interested in continuing that involvement,” said Mayor Mironov. “Be it by volunteering on one of the boards or committees or a township project or perhaps even running for local office.”
She said the program could in general help provide some fresh ideas and new input from young people in the community.
“It’s a program that we’ve been very supportive of and really has been a very successful program for the town and we hope for the students,” she said.
Mayor Mironov said council members thought it would be a great opportunity to invite all the students who have been participating in the program to the March 22 council meeting, even though National Volunteer Week is in April.
The mayor presented certificates of appreciation to the following: Clean Communities student member Chirayu Gupta; Commission on Aging student member Sree Chinta; Economic Development Committee student members Jasman Singh and Sarah Heyburn; Environmental Commission and Green Team student members Vipartap Grewal, Rithesh Neelamagam, Jay Vaingankar and Aditya Shah; East Windsor Alliance for the Prevention of Substance Abuse student member Alexis Brandon; and Recreation Commission student member Manas Sood.
Also: Economic Development Committee student members Vaibhav Mehta and Ian Jurkiewicz; Environmental Commission and Green Team member Harish Rabindran; Health Advisory Board student member Aish Parulekar; East Windsor Alliance for the Prevention of Substance Abuse student members Jack Krall and Riya Parulekar; and Recreation Commission student member Raveena Kumar were unable to attend the presentation.
“It’s really been a lot of fun in addition to very informative and educational for all of us who have served with them on the different boards and committees,” said Mayor Mironov.
She said it has been a value to have the students on council as well as being involved in the community at large.
Jay Vaingankar, a senior and student body president at Hightstown High School, said that the Environmental Commission has worked a lot with the Green Team Committee to get recognition from Sustainable New Jersey, which gives recognition to municipalities who have made an effort to increase sustainability of their town.
“This is a really diverse group of people with every grade represented here, all different academic levels, all different interests,” he said. “It’s definitely given me a great insight into politics and government and that’s definitely something that I’d like to pursue in the future. Thank you for the opportunity and thank you for literally giving us a seat at the table.”
