Amidst much discussion, failed attempts and intense concentration coupled with laughter, the middle school and high school students got all the marbles into the second bowl, only 30 seconds past the deadline. Facilitator Dominic Allamano of Odyssey Performance Enhancement Network, who was leading the group in this and several other team-building activities Aug. 21, cut the group a little slack, saying that the "planets" were in different time zones and it could be difficult to predict when exactly the first planet would explode.

Minus the four individuals who were still on vacation or had already started school, this was the 2002­03 youth commission's first work experience together in preparation for a busy school year of meetings, dances, concerts and community activities that the group will be coordinating and leading.

The day at the city's North Campus Facility started out with team-building activities in the morning, followed by an afternoon full of learning about how the city works and the details of the teens' responsibilities as city commissioners.

"They're actually learning how to work together because there's so much they have to do together," said recreation coordinator Taffy Lowery, who oversees the youth commission, as she watched the morning's activities from the sidelines. "The youth commission is designed to be the voice of the local youth. It's not just the adults making decisions. It's a great learning experience for the kids."

The commission meets the second Tuesday of every month from 7 to 9 p.m., and each member is expected to devote at least 10 hours a month to his or her duties. Those begin right away, as the commission will be selling glow-in-the-dark necklaces at the Sept. 21 Celebrate Saratoga! street fair to earn money to help cover the costs of its activities for Saratoga's youth.

Already the group has two middle school dances scheduled, Sept. 27 and Nov. 1 at the Warner Hutton House, as well as a live band concert for high schoolers, scheduled for Oct. 11. Once the group starts meeting, it will come up with additional activities to host, as well as hear the concerns and ideas of other city youth—and sometimes their parents. The commission will then follow up on their ideas with the appropriate city department or even with the city council.

The commission meetings are open to the public, but there are other ways for youth to get involved in city activities, Lowery said. Many Redwood Middle School students and other local youth gather at the Warner Hutton House's daily after-school drop-in, which starts up again Aug. 28. The youths come to hang out, do their homework or participate in the different daily activities, like food preparation, games, movie watching and crafts, all under the watchful eye of three or four paid college students.

"A lot of them just hang out," said Lowery, who also oversees the Warner Hutton House. "But there's enough staff there to make sure they're hanging out in the right way."

All participants must have their parents fill out a registration form so supervisors have emergency information. Most of the participants come from Redwood Middle School, Lowery said, because of its proximity. And those numbers have been growing following the library's closure. But students from all over the city, and even outside the city, come to the commission's popular youth activities.

At the training event, former youth commissioner James Atkin sat with Lowery, watching the new group try different approaches to moving the marbles from bowl to bowl. He's helped the new commission get on its feet before leaving for college this week, and it was all he could do to keep himself from giving the commissioners some advice while they struggled with the grooved sticks. He said it's important for each commission to work together and learn from its own mistakes.

That's what new commissioner Shruti Jayakumar, 16, said she gained from her training experience.

"I learned that you have to really trust other people in the activities that we did," she said. "I didn't realize that before."

That experience, as well as her desire to do something for her community, is a good foundation upon which Jayakumar, who will be a junior at Saratoga High School this year, can build her two-year term.

"I really want to do things for youth instead of adults always doing everything," she said. "I hope to really help kids do something, instead of just sitting at home."

For more information about the youth commission and the Warner Hutton House drop-in program, call Lowery at 408.868.1272, or visit www.saratoga.ca.us/youth.htm.