Application deadline approaches for Youth Council and Leadership Academy
Students have until Sept. 15 to turn in applications
Adam Rubin, Special to the Standard-Examiner
This photo taken Wednesday, Sept. 1, 2021, shows Ross Watkins, policy analyst with the Ogden City Council, who will lead a new Youth Council and Leadership Academy program. Student applications for the two organizations are due Sept. 15.OGDEN — The Ogden City Council is now accepting applications from students in the ninth through 12th grades in the Ogden School District as a deadline looms for positions in a new Youth Council and Leadership Academy.
The council opened submissions for students last week.
According to an Aug. 25 press release, the application deadline will be Sept. 15. Application forms are available online at ogdencity.com/151/City-Council.
A maximum of nine students will be selected for the Youth Council. Students will meet one to two times per month with city council members, as well as organize and lead service projects in the community.
Any Ogden-area students who qualify may be involved with the Youth Leadership Academy, which is open to students with an interest in learning about local government.
Ogden City Council policy analyst Ross Watkins will be running the program and has facilitated communication between council members and local schools.
While the students will not have any official authority, Watkins said, they will have the opportunity to act as an advisory committee to the city council, gaining firsthand experience in local government and the local lawmaking processes.
“We want to get kids involved in what matters most, what affects them the most … local government,” Watkins said, “and help them see, ‘Hey, there is this decision going through the Planning Commission, and they are going to decide whether or not to put 50 townhomes in my neighborhood,’ and help them realize that they can have a voice in that.”
There will be one to three city council members who will act as advisors for students.
Angela Choberka, a council member representing District 1, will advise both the Youth Council and the Leadership Academy.
“I know the council is interested, and I am really interested, in hearing what’s important to the students,” Choberka said. “I think it is a little bit two-fold, it is about their education but also to have those voices included in some of our conversations that we are having at the council level.”
A highlight for all participating students includes a trip to the Utah State Capitol on Local Government Day, while legislative sessions are taking place.