Yorkton Council heard at its regular meeting Monday about new initiatives being undertaken in the city to give youth a greater voice in the decision making process.
Council heard a joint presentation from the Yorkton Alliance of Assets Champions, (YAAC), which was established in 2008, and the Yorkton Understanding Minds of Many Youth (YUMMY).
We have worked collaboratively over the past few years to have Yorkton designated as a Healthy Communities-Healthy Youth status by the Search Institute, have been recognized as a provincial, national and international leader in Positive Ticketing, and have also been named a finalist for a Saskatchewan Municipal Award in the Community Development and Leadership category, explained Andrew Sedley, co-chair of the YAAC.
As for YUMMY it was established in 2010, and is made up of students from both Sacred Heart and the Regional High Schools.
To help get youth involved in the new group a Youth Summit is being held in the city in mid-April.
Vicki Lazurko with YUMMY explained the group's goals are to:
Address youth issues and needs to City Council and other community organizations.
Provide a powerful voice for youth in the city of Yorkton.
Encourage other youth to get involved in making the city of Yorkton a great place to live.
"The committee will consist of 15 youth ranging in age from 14-20. We hope that one city councillor will be appointed to the committee as well as an adult facilitator. At the end of each year (May), two youth co-chairs and a secretary will be elected by the overall committee," said Lazurko.
"We hope that the committee can make recommendations to City Council and Council will then decide how or if they will act on the recommendations. Recommendations will be made by face-to-face presentations to City Council performed by our co-chairs."
Meaghann White, also with YUMMY went into greater detail on the upcoming Youth Summit.
"The second initiative we would like to discuss is the Youth Summit that we have been working on. Youth Speak 2011: Connecting Youth and Adults Together in Yorkton will take place on April 13-14 at the Gallagher Centre. We hope to have 250 youth and 50 adults attend this one of a kind event in Yorkton," she said.
"On April 13, we have keynote speakers from Hampton, West Virginia discussing the importance of youth getting involved in their community through civic planning. There will be activities to get youth thinking of issues in the community, a live band and breakout groups to focus on solutions to issues in the community. This will be the kick-off to getting youth excited about sharing their opinions with community leaders."
White said they are hoping Council will be part of the Summit.
"On the 14th we will be inviting community leaders to come together through a facilitated process to work to work on developing a plan to address some of the issues that were discussed the day before with us," she said. "We would like to invite all council members who would be available to attend both days as we engage youth to get involved in their community and make Yorkton a place where all young people are valued."
YUMMY is also hoping the City will help youth attend an upcoming national event.
"There is a National Conference on Developmental Assets that is being held in Regina on May 4-6. This is the first time ever that it has been held in Saskatchewan. Speakers from all over Canada and Australia will be presenting on issues that affect youth. Sacred Heart's UROCK has been chosen to be a session presenter as well," said White.
"The Yorkton Alliance of Asset Champions will be sponsoring two local youth to attend the conference. We are planning that these youth will also be involved in YUMMY once they return. The cost to send a youth to this conference is $500 per youth which includes registration, meals and accommodations. We ask Council to consider sponsoring two additional youth to attend to enhance the YUMMY group and its work with Council."
Yorkton Council referred the financial request to Administration to determine where the money could come from in terms of the City's budget, and filed the report.
