The Renton Youth Council provides valuable service

KD Kerstetter, Editor in Chief

The Renton Youth Council is a community service organization that has brought together teens from amongst the community for years; uniting the students of the Renton and Issaquah School Districts through one purpose. Liberty High School students, Katherine Kerstetter, Tyler Ackerson, Jenny Adams, Victor Mai and Karen Mai are currently participating in the program. Tyler acts as co-president of the organization and Katherine as the vice president.

Students can participate in the program beginning in their seventh grade year and can continue until their senior year of high school. Participants meet bi-weekly at the Renton Highlands Neighborhood Center to vote on upcoming service event opportunities, play team building games, and discuss new opportunities.

The Council has participated for several years in events such as community dinners, neighborhood cleanups, and fundraising for charity events. At community dinners the students plate food, serve food, and clean up after community events such as Renton School District award ceremonies or Rotary Club dinners. The biggest fundraiser that the Youth Council has participated in is the Relay for Life. Students go in the evening of a Friday and consistently have a student walking on the track throughout the night until Saturday morning.

The work of the youth council has not gone unnoticed. In 2013, the council was invited by the Renton City Council to an official meeting to be recognized for its excellence in service. The students posed for a picture with the City Council and listened to their advisor give a speech, all of which was broadcasted live on local television.

Growth is a tremendous goal for the council, growing the number of students participating, the number of people affected and the amount of service events participated in. The council concludes each year with the end of the school year and begins again with each new school year. Students can have their community service forms signed making it a perfect opportunity to fulfill your school requirements.