The Oswego Village Board recently approved an ordinance to involve youth in the village’s Cultural Arts, Economic Development and Historic Preservation commissions as non-voting members.
Oswego Village President Ryan Kauffman suggested staff develop some of the parameters of a program that would have one student from Oswego High School and one student from Oswego East High School serve as non-voting members on each of the three commissions.
“It’s an awesome idea to get students involved,” Kauffman said. “It can actually be something to have on their resume that will give them some real-world experience and an introduction to the nuts and bolts of local government functions.”
The village administration consulted with Superintendent Andalib Khelghati of Oswego-based School District 308 about the idea and reviewed a similar program in Naperville and then moved forward to propose the ordinance.
The school district offered to help the village in the selection process of students to serve on the commissions and supported the idea of including one student from each high school on each panel, village officials said.
According to the parameters of the ordinance, students taking part in the program must live in the village and attend 75% of scheduled meetings.
Applications will be accepted from high school students, with preference given to students in their junior or senior years.
Students will be expected to “actively participate” at the meetings, however, they will not have a vote on the panels.
School District 308 will assist in promoting the application period and with selecting appointees. Students will be required to have a letter of recommendation from a District 308 teacher, village officials said.
The village will look further to discuss “high school job shadowing” opportunities with village staff members and elected officials or hosting a Youth in Government Day in the future.
Linda Girardi is a freelance reporter for The Beacon-News.
