BELLAIRE • MEMORIAL • RIVER OAKS • TANGLEWOOD • WEST UNIVERSITY

Getting involved in our city

By Alex Levy, age 15 | March 27, 2022

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MAKE YOUR VOICE HEARD Friends Alex Levy, a freshman at Emery/Weiner, and Sumedha Mohanty, a sophomore at Carnegie Vanguard, aim to encourage youth civic engagement in Bellaire with their new youth council.

At a young age, my friend Sumedha Mohanty and I were captivated by presidents, leadership, and voicing our opinions (maybe too much for a five-year-old in some cases). Being young can come with a feeling of not being heard, which is normal, but Sumedha and I were determined to flip the script and allow youth voices to hold more weight in our community.

In recent times of severe political polarity, a global pandemic, and scary social injustices, Sumedha and I thought that it was time to allow the youth of Bellaire to come together and raise awareness for these topics, while developing leadership skills. Exploring new political ideas, while collaborating with the youth of your neighborhood, is an incredibly powerful force that can leave a lasting impact on the teens of our city.

This fall, we founded the City of Bellaire Youth Advisory Council which, in collaboration with and sanction from the City of Bellaire, aims to create greater youth engagement in the community, develop a voice for the youth that can advise the city on relevant matters, and create awareness among the youth on various issues that are of importance to them in the present as well as in the future.

The council’s mission is to provide Bellaire’s youth with the opportunity to participate in the city’s decision-making process, through providing recommendations to the City Council that address pertinent youth issues. In addition, we will develop and promote positive programs, projects, and activities for Bellaire’s young people, encouraging youth civic engagement and helping shape the future of Bellaire for the better. Our exciting new initiative is a way for youth (8th-12th graders) to feel heard in the community. This is a special, brand-new opportunity for Bellaire youth to make their voices heard.

We are currently in the process of recruiting officers and members into the council and we would love to invite all Bellaire youth to join us! If you are interested, email [email protected].

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