YLC Featured on Cover of LO Monthly
January 10, 2024 - LAKE OSWEGO REVIEW
Members of the Lake Oswego Youth Leadership Council were featured in Mac Larsen's cover story for the LO Monthly...
The members of the Lake Oswego Youth Leadership Council aren’t so different from any other teenagers. They’re social, they’re busy with extracurriculars and they’re opinionated about things that matter to them.
What sets them apart? They have the power to make a difference.
“I think when you care about an issue when you’re young, you can write to your councilor, you can tell your parents, you can tell your teacher, but a lot of the times it falls on deaf ears if you don’t have a more direct avenue that I think (YLC) provides,” said Liam Aranda-Michel, a junior at Lake Oswego High School.
On Dec. 19, the Youth Leadership Council advocated for a statewide ban on the sale of all flavored tobacco products and asked the Lake Oswego City Council to sign a joint letter to Oregon State Senate President Rob Wagner, D-Lake Oswego.
“The more we involve our youngest residents, the more empowered they will be to engage as future local leaders, sparking positive change within their communities, running for office or considering a career in local government. Some are not waiting though. Many of our students are already creating positive change for their peers and neighbors on a daily basis,” said Mayor Joe Buck in an email to LO Monthly.
The councilors were impressed with the presentation and decided to add their names to the letter. During the first Lake Oswego School Board meeting of the year Jan. 9, the students made their case again for a statewide ban.
“I think Youth Leadership Council is really valuable because it’s not like adults in the past who have told me, ‘Oh, your generation is going to save our world someday, your generation is gonna be our future,’ or something like that. We’re here in the here and now and we can be change-makers in the here and now and we don’t have to wait,” said Cara Chen, a Lakeridge High School senior.