The Tualatin Youth Advisory Council sent several of its members to the annual Oregon Youth Summit held at Willamette University on Feb. 26. One of these representatives was Tualatin senior Julian Marsh.

According to Marsh, the day started out with youth representatives from a host of different cities explaining their youth groups and their mission statements. Organizations from Lake Oswego, Tualatin, Hillsboro, Happy Valley, Cornelius, Mount Angel and Sandy participated in the day long event. This first session also included a Q & A for each of the youth representatives during which other attendees were given the chance to ask them specific questions pertaining to their group.

“The first part was great,” Marsh said. “We got to learn about the other youth organizations in Oregon and learn about what they were doing. This gave us a chance to learn about how we could improve our own organization and what we could do in the future to better connect the youth and government.”

The second session included round-table discussions, with each table being moderated by city official. Topics ranged from constructing new parks on a budget and fundraising for youth events to a current proposed bill that would lower the voting age to 16. At the end of the allotted time session, each group presented their team’s conversations.

Marsh commented on the day’s activities.

“It was a great experience and we learned a lot,” he said. “The opportunity to speak with city officials and hear their point of view regarding youth activities was invaluable. During this session, we got the opportunity to really talk to other kids from different cities. A lot of us run into the same problems and sometimes talking it out can lead to hearing different perspectives that can help eradicate these issues. The adults at the tables also had a lot of great ideas, and it seemed like they were all genuinely interested in what we were doing and saying.”

The Tualatin Youth Advisory is currently recruiting new members, so please refer to the YAC’s website on the City of Tualatin webpage for more information on how to apply.