Community Corner
West Islip Teen Council Prepares Events for 2011
The group held their first meeting of the year to elect new board members and plan open mic night.
Coming off a year which included numerous community service and chartiy events, The West Islip Involved Teens (WIIT) Council started fresh in 2011 by electing new board members and planning for its biggest event of the year at their monthly meeting Tuesday afternoon.
The council, run by West Islip teens and the library's Head of Teen Services Jennifer Fowler, generally hold discussions in the library on the last Tuesday of every month and encourage other students grades 7-12 to join them.
“It was totally teen created…the name, the logo and everything,” Fowler said. “What we’ve done over the last year and a half, have been several programs that the teens run themselves. We’ve done a pet food drive, food drive and we’re doing a right now.
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“Every time they come they get community service. Every student in West Islip has to complete 100 hours of community service before they graduate so this is a great way to do it. In addition to that, if I have something else that needs to be done in the library I may call the teen council members in so they get extra community service.”
The council began planning for their main event; an open mic night that will be held after hours in the library on Friday, April 15 starting at 7 p.m. Council member and newly elected secretary, ninth grader Katie Grasso, will MC the event. Refreshments will be served in a “New York City Coffeehouse” theme. Participants can contact the library for more information and to sign up ahead of time.
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The group also elected officers for 2011. Sophomore Victoria Matter was elected president. Nick Secor, who has been with the council since its inception, became vice president. Freshman Devin Bodurian became the member at large and Grasso, a new council member, became secretary.
“The council’s always evolving because the kids age out by the time they’re seniors in high school,” Fowler said. “We’re constantly trying to recruit new members and this year we have a very good group.”
For more information on the council and their upcoming events you can visit their blog here.
