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Manos Center proposes youth council after Lincoln Heights students research local needs
Summary
Dr. Ernest Davis of Manos Center presented a six-week youth research program and proposed forming a youth council of grades 7'12 students to report ideas to the Village Council; councilmembers asked for logistics and several volunteered to help plan.
Dr. Ernest Davis, director of Manos Center, told the Lincoln Heights Village Council on May 27 that a youth research program run with Saint Monica's produced proposals from local students and that many participants recommended forming a youth council to convey youth priorities to the council.
Davis said the Young Researchers program trains students in survey research over six sessions, pays participants $20 per session ("so if they come to all 6 sessions, nice little $220 in their pocket"), and yielded ideas ranging from road repairs to better youth-adult communication. "They said we should talk more," Davis said, describing the students' preference for a youth council to bring neighborhood concerns to municipal leaders.
Councilmembers asked how the program would recruit a representative cross-section of students and how the youth council would be structured. Davis said Manos Center would develop rules of order and training, lead initial recruitment and then hand the council off to a local institution — Saint Monica's or another community organization — once it was sustainable. He asked whether council would be "amenable to developing a youth council" and said Manos Center and partner Mike Pearl would help with planning.
Several members expressed support. Councilwoman Laverne Mitchell said seventh grade is a good starting age because students are learning about civic participation, and Vice Mayor Linda Childs Jeter called it an "excellent opportunity to build future leaders." Davis asked for volunteers for a planning group; multiple members volunteered to assist.
Next steps recorded during the meeting were for Davis to assemble a small pilot group of students and for council members to follow up on recruitment, outreach and whether to accept a formal recommendation to create a youth council at a future meeting.
The presentation came during council announcements and did not include a formal motion or vote; council directed staff and interested members to work with Manos Center on planning and to receive additional materials by email.
