LPSB consolidation talks open to public
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La. lawmakers adopt education reform
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Efforts have begun to resurrect the Terrebonne Parish youth advisory council. Government and school leaders are conducting informal discussion this week, intended to design a specific program that teaches teenager how to be involved adults through participation.
Terrebonne Parish Council Chairwoman Arlanda Williams is the driving force behind what she identified as a necessity to boost local viability in state legislative chambers and in national settings.
“I’ve been pushing for this,” Williams said. “I travel as a member of several organizations, and I see youth councils from other states that are involved in government. We should have that as well.”
“We will be meeting with staff [this week] to begin reviewing applications and looking at what issues the youth could cover,” school district Assistant Superintendent Carol W. Davis said.
Davis said she hopes the meetings will provide a springboard for participation and enhanced interest in government by area youth.
Williams said teenagers have concerns that adults might not recognize. She also wants to teach the younger generation how to select meaningful matters on which to focus their attention. “We want to see them deal with real issues, not just skate parks,” she said.
Real issues for Williams include topics such as teen pregnancy and addressing decisions made by state legislators that influence education. “[It is about] matters that impact them directly,” she said. “They could talk about juvenile delinquency and look into resources available to deal with that.”
Williams introduced the concept earlier this year, and witnessed the youth advisory council being ratified by her peers on March 28.
The youth advisory council is intended to be a working group of students ages 13 to 18, who will be decision-making contributors on issues relevant to the community as a whole.
Terrebonne Parish did have a government youth advisory council during the 1990s. Both educators and government leaders said they could not recall specifically how it began or why it was abandoned.
Sherri [Poche] Bardeleben was a youth advisory councilmember in 1997. Currently a sixth grade teacher at Mulberry Elementary School, the Terrebonne High School graduate said while she benefited from the experience, she wonders how well received the concept would be by teenagers today – 15 years later.
“It was a great way to learn about government,” Bardeleben said. “It helped me make decisions about the type of things I wanted to do with my life.
“Today, it is a different challenge,” Bardeleben continued. “Nowadays, kids don’t get involved as much. They are not driven. You just don’t have as many kids willing to take up a cause.”
The former youth advisory council member said she and her peers placed suggestion boxes in high schools to determine what issues were of concern to teenagers of her era. Suggestions included establishing a skate park – an idea that failed once backers were faced with liability and insurance issues. As a community service, the youth advisory council of 1997 helped clean Legion Park and prepared it for renovation.
Approved by the current parish council, the return of a youth advisory council is welcomed by government officials and educators, but they confirm it offers room for discussion regarding differences in teenager culture.
Bardeleben supports the effort, but warned organizers it might not be as easy as it seems to gather a group of teenagers with a full appreciation of serious issues.
Davis is enthusiastic about the response she has received regarding the Terrebonne Parish youth advisory council idea. “I had a high school teacher email me and say his students had questioned him about [the youth advisory council],” she said. “That’s what you want to have come out of something like this. Some of our youth are getting involved.”
Williams and Davis explained that interested students may secure applications from their school counselors. After applications are received parish councilmembers from the applicants’ respective districts will recommend selected individuals from appointment.
Once named, the youth advisory council will sit with the parish council and be an active voice in decision making.
“[The youth advisory council] was a great way for people from other schools to get together,” Bardeleben said. “It is not all the same kids from the same school.”
“We are in high hopes we can get our youth involved in some degree of [parish government] decision making,” Davis said. “Getting input from them about what the issues are and possible solutions is where we start. We have some wonderful kids. We just need outlets for them.”
To promote interest among students and adults, the Terrebonne Parish Council designated April as government month.
Terrebonne Parish council chairwoman Arlanda Williams, far left, did not have to work hard to gain support from others for reestablishment of a youth advisory council.
