City enlists Woodbury teens on parks and rec panel
When Logan Scott moved from North Carolina to Minnesota as a kid, she took to Woodbury parks to get used to frigid cold temperatures while still having fun.By: Riham Feshir, Woodbury Bulletin
When Logan Scott moved from North Carolina to Minnesota as a kid, she took to Woodbury parks to get used to frigid cold temperatures while still having fun.
Now the 16-year-old wants to have a say in how those parks operate. So when the opportunity to add two youth members to the city’s Parks and Recreation Commission came up, she snatched it right up.
“When I was really little those places really helped me acclimate to Minnesota when I first moved here,” she said. “I wanted to really get engaged in my community and volunteer.”
The city of Woodbury last week appointed Scott, an East Ridge High School junior, and Carter Stone, a Woodbury High School junior, to the Parks and Recreation Commission.
It’s the first time city staff and council approved the addition of two youth members to the seven-person advisory commission that helps with ordinance revisions, recreation programs and the department’s budget.
“I’m always looking for new opportunities to learn and I’m actually really interested to learn the whole political process,” Stone said, adding that the Parks and Recreation Commission will be a good start.
The new members said teens their age and younger are the primary users of city parks and recreation facilities. They said they can bring that perspective to the board and help with decisions that affect them and their peers.
“Really in the end, it’s the kids who use the parks of the city,” Stone said.
Stone grew up in Woodbury using the different fields and parks. He is a baseball and basketball player with the Woodbury Athletic Association, and he also serves on the student council and the Link Crew at WHS.
Scott is a snowboarding instructor at Afton Alps, an East Ridge tennis player, a student council member and an East Ridge Ambassador.
Scott said she’s an outdoorsy person who likes to play hockey, swim at Carver Lake and hang out at Ojibway Park.
She’s looking forward to getting involved in the Bielenberg Sports Center expansion project since she’s an avid skater at the ice arenas there.
“I definitely use those parks and facilities a ton because I don’t want to be stuck inside,” she said.
One thing she’d like to see more of is collaboration between schools and the city to host activities and get volunteer help from the youth.
“People in high school are interested in volunteering and using their talents,” she said. “If we really delved into that exclusively it would be awesome. Everyone would be able to collaborate on ideas.”
Scott said she hopes to continue volunteering and serving on commissions similar to Parks and Recreation as she gets older.
“Those things are always going to be in supply,” she said. “Someone is always going to need a place to hang out or go for a walk.”
Both youngsters recently interviewed with Mayor Mary Giuliani Stephens before being appointed. They are eager to start serving on the Parks and Recreation Commission.
“I’m proud to serve the city,” Stone said.
“I’m just really excited to be a part of it,” Scott said. “I’m really excited to start helping my community. It’s going to be really fun.”
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