ATTACHMENT #1
2022-23 YC Committee Summary Report
Name of Committee: Environmental Committee
Purpose: To address the environmental concerns raised by youth at the 2022 Youth Leadership Summit
Frequency of meetings: Twice monthly throughout the 2022-23 session Summary/ highlights of committee activities for FY2022-23: The Environmental Committee of the Youth Commission for the 2022-2023 session created two main area goals at the beginning of the year: student engagement and education through a recycling program at local high and middle schools, and improvement of the local environment through the hosting of a cleanup event for the city. The committee decided to scrap the first goal after reaching out to local schools and finding that there was not a need for new recycling drives on local campuses, as most schools already had a recycling program of their own.
However, the committee did continue with their goal of a city cleanup and worked with the Public Works Department to host a youth trash clean-up on Saturday, April 29th, 2023, from 8-10:30 in the morning on Moorpark Road across from Thousand Oaks High School. Approximately 32 participants came to the event to clear dead organic matter and trash from the side of Moorpark Road in order to help clear stormwater runoff, prevent fires, and help reduce pollution in the natural ecosystem along this road. The committee aimed to use this event as a way to encourage environmental activism among local youth and give students a chance to get involved in efforts to better their local environment. In the future, the committee would like to continue working on educating local city residents, and particularly city youth, on the environmental problems facing our local area and ways they can help promote sustainable living to encourage greater respect for the environment throughout the community as a whole. The committee also recommends that the commission continues to work with city leaders to engage the next generation of city leaders in environmental activism and promote policies that limit pollution, as this was a main concern of the youth present at the Youth Leadership Summit and thus should remain a priority of the Youth Commission.
Name of committee: Spreading Art Awareness Committee
Purpose: This committee purpose was for the youth to bond and express their creative freedoms within a positive environment. Creating art pieces of your own helps build self-awareness and improve self-esteem. It was meant to be a positive and exciting learning experience for the youth to explore and to be themselves. Art can promote freedom of creative expression, which can help the youth to relax and think differently. Anyone can make art, and there are so many different art forms, which can help the youth to gain independence, confidence, and self-esteem.
Frequency of meetings: Once a week on zoom for about 30 minutes Summary/ highlights of committee activities for FY2022-23: We held an interactive booth at Arbor Day. People could come stop by and create their very own vision board to help them write out their own goals for the school year. The booth was successful.
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