Kalamazoo Parks and Rec Looking to Hire Teens for Youth Council

It was Whitney Houston that sang "I believe that children are our future. Teach them well and let them lead the way". And it seems that Kalamazoo is taking that to heart.

As reported by MLive.com, the Parks and Rec Department of Kalamazoo is looking to hire teenagers, aged 13-18, to form a youth council. That council would offer input on potential youth programs and activities offered in the city.

This is brilliant in my opinion. How many times have we seen a group of adults try to come up with "fun" things for the kids to do only to be called "lame"? I love the idea of the teens being in charge because if the event is "lame"...well at least they can't blame us! 😂

Youth Development Coordinator for the city of Kalamazoo, Chad Wendt, was quoted saying,

Youth are the future of our city and their voices are important. They will be leading our community soon and we owe it to them and to ourselves to ensure they have opportunities to develop strong leadership skills.

The city will be looking to fill 13 council spots initially. The teens will be in charge of the name of the council, how it will operate, when they'll meet and if they want to add more members. Council members will also have access to a $250 annual stipend that will be paid to members who attend at least 75% of the meetings that year.

Plus, I bet this would look incredible on a college resume. Which, isn't the main point but definitely a bonus.

Youth Council members will be selected by Kzoo Parks' youth team. Applications can be found here.