Mitty Senior: Nicolette Kirk
New youth commissioners look forward to their role
By Kara Chalmers
The city council has appointed two teenaged Saratogans to the city's youth commission. Ramy El-Diwany, 14, a freshman at Saratoga High School, and Nicolette Kirk, 17, a senior at Archbishop Mitty High School, a Catholic high school in San Jose, attended their first commission meeting on Nov. 14.
The youth commission, a city council-appointed arm of the local government, raises money to help keep open the Warner-Hutton House, a safe, supervised and free after-school program for students in grades six through eight, in conjunction with the nonprofit Friends of the Warner Hutton House.
The commission is also a liaison between the city council and the youth community in Saratoga, and commissioners must reside in the city to serve.
The commission raises money by holding dances for sixth-, seventh- and eighth-grade students, staging concerts by local bands and organizing special events, such as ski trips. The commission's biggest fundraiser is its annual appeal for contributions, sent to parents of Redwood Middle School students--the students who are the biggest users of the Warner Hutton House--as well as the Saratoga Chamber of Commerce, all city commissioners and council members.
Kirk became interested in the job when she attended a youth commission meeting for the city of Santa Clara with one of her friends. Kirk thought it would be fun to do the same thing in her own city. Soon after, she learned about the Saratoga Youth Commission during a club fair at her school.
Kirk said she thinks being on the commission will prove to be a great way for her to meet other people her age who live in Saratoga but do not go to her school. She also thinks it will be fun to be involved in the city's youth issues.
SHS Freshman: Ramy El-Diwany
El-Diwany participated in the city's after-school program for teens at the Warner Hutton House when he was in middle school and also attended the middle school dances. He was encouraged to apply for the commission, he said, by the people on the city staff who work with the commission.
While neither teen has new ideas for the commission yet, they both said they are excited to work on some of the projects the commission is already involved in. El-Diwany said he is interested in working on the dances.
"In middle school, I realized the downs and ups of the dances," he said, adding that he could give the commission input on what they should spend more or less money on, to ensure that dances are always successes.
Kirk said, too, that dances sounded like an interesting project and said she was looking forward to working with middle school students. Kirk, who attended elementary and middle school in Santa Clara, where she used to live, did not participate in any youth commission activities when she was in middle school. She said that she just recently learned about what the youth commission offers.
El-Diwany plays the violin in his school's orchestra, a classical music group. He also ran on the high school's cross-country team this past fall and plans on running track in the spring. He has been a runner since the sixth grade and he said he also likes to mountain bike.
At her school, Kirk is the captain of dance team and is a member of the school's Intercultural Fellowship, where students learn about Asian cultures. She also helps to organize school prayer services and retreats, and is a peer counselor.
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