The Nevada County Youth Commission has started its second year with a focus on recreation/mental health, career educational development and emergency preparedness/climate resilience.
Mackenzie Rist, a Nevada Union High School senior, is returning as chair. “We have some promising focus points and I’m looking forward to seeing the progress we can make on each of them as well as getting to know all of the new commissioners and community members.”
The commission is made up of young people ages 14-19 who live in or attend a Nevada County school. The group serves as a bridge between youth and the Board of Supervisors. In the inaugural term of NCYC, the commission focused on improving the quality for food in local schools, mental health issue, recreation, transportation and Career Technical Education as they relate to youth.
Sophia Martin, a Truckee High School senior who just joined the commission, hopes to get more youth interested in local government. “Often times, youth are quite far removed from this,” she said. “I want them to see that government is more than the presidential election.”
Grant Lacrosse, another new commissioner and a junior at Ghidotti Early College High School, said the group fits in with his passion for communications and public speaking. “The youth voice is as important as the adult voice,” he said.
The full list of commissioners are:
Frank Post (District 1)
Tova Rothert (District 1)
Ari Funk (District 1)
Mario LaMarca (District 1)
Emma Crawford (District 1)
Grant Lacrosse (District 2)
Jaylen Hale (District 2)
Arianna Drageset (District 3)
Ahna Taliaferro-Watson (District 3)
Maura Griffin (District 3)
Graham Gardemeyer (District 3)
Walter Helvin (District 4)
Mackenzie Rist (District 4)
Harris Nelson (District 4)
Randy Garcia (District 5)
Estefania Galton Meza (District 5)
Ninel Hernandez (District 5)
Sophia Martin (District 5)