The department recently formed a yet-to-be-named commission that will be made up of about 25 junior high and high school age residents.
Brock Boone, program coordinator at Wilson Park Recreation Center, said group participants will use their experiences in the commission to learn about the city and how it works, learn about volunteerism and in the process, arrive at ideas the parks department can turn into youth programs.
“The idea is to get some of the teens in the community involved, whether it’s through volunteering or coming up with programs they want to do,” Boone said.
He said the city is going directly to the youth of the community for input because they will know better where the interest of young people lies.
“If we don’t get their input we really don’t know what they want to do,” he said, adding that early suggestions include things such as ice skating, hiking and ballroom dancing.
He said the group met twice so far, with both meetings mainly dedicated to education. Commission members are learning manners, social skills and how to listen when speakers come to their meetings.
The group also talked about short-term goals such as adopting parks and volunteering at special events.
Long-term goals could include creating end-of-school activities such as battle of the bands or a skating competition, Boone said.
He said the department is trying to recruit more members and having more meetings leading up to mid-December, at which time the group will begin “bouncing ideas off of each other,” he said.
Boone said he hopes the commission will have about 25 members when it is complete.
“We want to create programs that teens can participate in during the non-school hours,” Boone said of the ultimate goal of the group.
Part of the program includes teaching teens how the city works with the members attending meetings and talking with department heads, Boone said.
He said the program has four main goals:
n Encourage youth to give back to the community.
n Create new programs for teens in non-school hours.
n Strengthen the relationship between youth in the city.
n Serve as a youth voice to other city departments.
