Youth Committee Advises Council, Forges New Directions for Princeton
FORGING THE FUTURE: The Princeton Youth Advisory Committee advises the Princeton mayor and Council on issues of interest to youth in the community, recommending policies and sponsoring educational, informational, and social events for youth. Back row, from left: Denzel Washington, Roei Zakut, Nandita Ammanamanchi, Eli Wasserman, Julia Zhang, and Sanyukta Mudakannavar. Front row: Shoshi Henderson, Ben Quainton, Carly Feldstein, Anushka Bhatia, Michelle Girouard, and Akshay Bhamidipati.
By Donald Gilpin
Current members of the Princeton Council are all at least a generation removed from their youth, and no matter how strong their memories might be, the world of 2019 presents a very different landscape with different challenges from those of the past.
That’s why the Princeton Youth Advisory Committee (YAC) for the last three years has been advising the Princeton mayor and Council on a range of issues of interest to local youth.
“We give a voice and platform for the youth population of our town,” said YAC Vice Chair Nandita Ammanamanchi, a Princeton High School (PHS) junior. “Our role in working with the Council is important because we are able to give them first-hand insight on a demographic that is highly important, but one they are detached from, and we can present them with new perspectives on their projects. In general, for the youth of Princeton, we are giving them a voice in the local political sphere.”
YAC Chair and PHS Senior Eli Wasserman pointed out, “YAC is extremely valuable to our community because we act as a primary source for the issues facing students in Princeton. High schoolers are becoming more active and outspoken on political and social issues every year, so the YAC is here to listen to the students’ needs.”
Wasserman noted that PHS students’ concerns last year about racism in town led to a YAC collaboration with Corner House to organize the Stand Against Racism Rally in Hinds Plaza for students and other community members.
One of the highlights of the past year for YAC was a presentation called “Middle School Milestones: The Importance of Emotional Well-Being” for John Witherspoon Middle School seventh-graders. It provided information and tips for middle schoolers getting ready for high school.
“Through skits and monologues and activities, we taught seventh-graders how to manage their time wisely, declutter their schedules, and maintain a low-stress life,” said Wasserman.
“We touched upon how to prioritize education, rest, relationships, and personal time, and how to find a general balance in life while seeking out help from others when needed,” Ammanamanchi added. “This was such a rewarding and important experience for us as we were passing on our knowledge to the future of the town.”
Wasserman and Ammanamanchi both mentioned that another high point of the year for YAC was the PHS Alumni Panel, which focused on the arts, bringing back four PHS alumni to speak to the student body. The four artists in different fields talked about how they found success and were able to redefine success in nontraditional ways.
Other memorable projects involved work with the Princeton Civil Rights Commission and with Sustainable Princeton.
Plans for next year’s YAC include expanding on their successful programs from this year and focusing particularly on mental health among Princeton youth, according to Ammanamanchi.
Leticia Fraga, Council liaison to the YAC, noted that, in talking with YAC members and applicants, “The No. 1 issue, last year and this year, was stress and emotional well-being. This is not only stress from academic pressure to excel, but also emotional well-being in the world of social media. They have less face-to-face interaction, and social media is impacting our youth, who are viewing life from a perspective that is not real.”
Fraga praised the YAC members, a total of 12 students — four each from grades 10, 11, and 12, and emphasized that this is a student-centered organization. “They’re doing great work,” she said. “I am so impressed by them, so hopeful for us that they are the ones leading the way now. They run it. They organize it. They generate the ideas for what they want to do.”
The YAC is a diverse group in many ways, but both Fraga and the students mentioned the need to bring in members from the town’s private schools and from the Latinx community.
“The most important and valuable aspect of the committee,” said Fraga, “is to provide a perspective for those of us who are implementing policy. It’s important for us to hear from their perspective what the most important issues are and also ideas about how to tackle those issues and how to reach their peers. We’re living in a different world now.”