Fox Chapel to reinstate junior council person program, welcome member next school year

A pair of Fox Chapel council’s newest members hope to bring back an opportunity for borough youths to learn about local government.

Sarah Hanna and Bradley Harrison are in their first year of their council terms. Among the issues in their political platform is community engagement.

One way they hope to do that is through a junior council person program, which has remained stagnant for the past few years.

“We want to get the youth get an interest in local government, be transparent on what we’re working on here, communicate to the residents and provide mentorship,” Harrison said March 21. “Also, assign an exciting project. We thought it would be a perfect fit … I hope there’s good interest. I think there will be.”

Using a model offered by the Pennsylvania State Association of Boroughs, the program is designed to develop leadership skills, help youths have a voice in their municipality and raise political awareness. Fox Chapel adopted it in 2017.

The borough’s first and only junior council person was Harper Bennett, daughter of council president Andrew Bennett.

“It was a very simplistic approach,” Andrew Bennett said. “I’ve always told my kids, ‘If you live in a community, and you’re asked to give back, unless you have a reason to say no, you do it.’ That’s the responsibility of a community member.

“Harper, (as) a senior in high school, kind of wanted to experience that. Kind of see what dad did and what do people do to give back to the community they live in.”

Bennett said the program essentially fell by the wayside and was not really promoted since then.

“It’s one of those things that no one really thinks about until someone says, ‘Hey, (we have this program),” Bennett said. “I do think we want to be careful that these kids somehow get vetted. That they’re really interested in it and not just building a resume for college.

“It’s always fun to see kids engaged. We’re all life-long learners. It’s fun to see them do something outside the academic world and have them exposed to a borough and how a borough runs.”

Harrison said officials plan to reach out to Fox Chapel Area School District and Shady Side Academy officials to have teachers help select potential student candidates.

Council would interview finalists and appoint someone early next school year. The student representative would not be able to vote on agenda items but would be encouraged to weigh in on discussions.

Hanna said council may be able to welcome an incoming junior from the Fox Chapel Area and the academy depending on student response.

“We’ve already had preliminary conversations with both (schools),” said Hanna. “We’ll follow up with both schools and go from there. I think it depends on what kind of candidates we get (and) who’s interested.”

“I think diversity is a great way to learn and to grow and to progress. Youth can provide a viewpoint that those on council may not (have by) no longer being in high school. Ideas of how to communicate with our residents. It will be interesting to see what kind of projects these high schoolers take on. I think we’ll learn a lot as council members, and having another voice is great.”

Families interested in having their young learners be on council should contact their school administrators.

Blawnox has a junior council person, its second. Mona Gerges is a senior at Fox Chapel Area High School.