Members of a forward-looking group of students continue to work toward a better future.
The Pine Township Youth Council was founded in 2022 by Udi Akolkar, now a Pine-Richland High School senior.
The group has the purpose of giving students an understanding of the function of local government while advancing their own leadership skills and giving back to the community.
“We’ve done a really good job of that so far,” youth council member Sydney Fluhrer said, citing the example of a bake sale at Pine’s April Earth Day event to benefit North Hills Community Outreach, a nonprofit that helps meet the needs of people in crisis, hardship and poverty.
Previously, the youth council conducted a holiday food drive that netted more than 200 pounds’ worth of donations for the Greater Pittsburgh Food Bank. And members continue to participate in Adopt-a-Pineway, a volunteer program for cleaning up debris along township roads.
The group has toured Pine’s municipal building and learned about various departments, taking particular interest in public works and its snow removal process.
“Our goal is to be an organization that is driven by passion and commitment where members train to be effective leaders who find creative solutions to benefit the entire community,” Udi said in an article about the group posted on the Pine-Richland School District website.
He is one of 10 students recently named as gold medalists among Trib Total Media’s 100 Outstanding Young Citizen Awardees. According to his award profile, he plans to major in philosophy and political science, and then attend law school or possibly pursuing a doctorate in philosophy with the goal of “going into academia so I can help shape political landscape of modern world.”
Sydney, a Pine-Richland junior, said she joined the youth council at the suggestion of her friend Charles Spudic, who serves as the group’s secretary. Her membership aligns with her career goals.
“I want to get involved with public policy and tie that into environmental science, learning how to live more sustainably in the future,” she said.
Editor’ note: A previous version of this story called attention to an event scheduled for May 23 at Pine-Richland High School that since has been canceled.