Wanting to find more interesting opportunities to volunteer and learn more life skills, senior Zuri Muldrow applied and was selected to be part of the Texarkana Youth Advisory Council (TYAC)
By participating in the organization, students can realize their importance and influence on the city.
“It can impact our city by having direct networking and having a direct communication line with our city council, and our mayor and just overall, being able to have a position that allows us to get not only our words out, but all of the other teenagers and children in our area,” junior Trinity Chase said.
TYAC is an official organization of the local government that gives high school students in the area chances to improve the city and themselves. Students are chosen by filling out the sign up form on the City of Texarkana TX website. After that, they will get an acceptance letter if they were selected.
Having the chance to step out of their comfort zone, Zuri and other members went to Beaumont City for an advisory summit. At this convention, students learned new skills to help them advance in their careers.
“We went to breakout rooms to learn about financial advice, how to grow a business, and what it takes to be a leader, ” Zuri said.
In addition to developing herself, Zuri also believes she is helping develop the community where she lives, with activities such as Arbor Day.
“During this [Arbor Day event], they separated at least 500 tree starters into bags of four and we had a line around the parking lot of the splash pad where we handed out trees and info papers about each four starters in the bag given to them,” Zuri said.
Besides Zuri, junior Tucker Keeney also contributes youth and musical instrument skills as a member of TYAC.
“We’ve done a lot of our service projects,” Tucker said. “Juneteenth is one of my favorite things. Our part wasn’t super crazy in it, but I liked just seeing the community gather together and have that huge event. I really liked it when we went to the nursing home because we did bingo and I got to play piano for them.”
In addition, for students, participating in TYAC also creates more opportunities in college life.
“I feel like this has impacted me positively,” Zuri said. “Not only through knowing that I’m helping, but for college. Being a part of the youth advisory council has gotten me scholarships, and I believe has helped me get accepted to so many colleges as I’ve applied to.”