When driving through Lexington, it is easy to miss the small elements that keep the town running. Traffic signals, parks, and public utilities are maintained in the background by town employees and volunteers. Local students can learn about these everyday operations through the Town of Lexington’s Youth Ambassador Program and see how they can help shape their own home’s government.
The program is entering its third year and offers high school seniors in Lexington the chance to spend the school year learning about their local government and making an impact on the community. The students meet with multiple departments and volunteer at events to learn about civic engagement and community service.
Lexington’s Marketing Coordinator and liaison for the program, Lauren Smith, calls the experience a “Town Hall 101” for high schoolers.
“It’s a way that we are allowing high school seniors in Lexington to learn about local municipal government, take the things that they learn, and apply them to their future careers,” said Smith.
The program runs from September to April with monthly class sessions where students visit the town departments, including the police station, transportation, and utilities, to learn how each sector contributes to serving Lexington. The seniors also attend some town council meetings to observe how the elected officials work together before presenting their own information to the council in April.
“They’re working with staff and learning the ins and outs and ups and downs and all the different inner workings of each department of the town and how each department works hand in hand with each other to execute goals that we have for our community and our municipality,” said Smith.
One of the key elements of the program is the community impact project created to discuss important issues within the town they have gathered from friends, family, and other residents. The group presents the final project to the town council and returns after the meeting with feedback to generate solutions.
Each year, 12 ambassadors are selected through an application and interview process. The Town of Lexington website outlines the qualifications to be eligible: the applicant must be a rising senior from Lexington High School, River Bluff High School, ALA, Homeschool Co-op, or Northside Christian who are available to attend each meeting and participate in a group volunteer event in December.
Interest in the program rises each year. “It’s in its third year right now, and each year it grows,” said Smith.
Beyond the monthly meetings, the ambassadors volunteer at community events such as the annual Snowball Festival, where they assist with activities like helping families navigate the event and providing support at activities inside the festival. Smith said the town hopes to expand the volunteer opportunities further because applicants have an increasing passion for serving the community.
“What we’ve seen so far from the applicants that we have interviewed is that they were eager to give back, and they have a hunger for volunteering, and they want to really make an impact on their community,” said Smith. “We want to be able to give them that opportunity.”
Their commitment to giving back isn’t new. Almost every applicant has some volunteer experience. “All kinds of different organizations, whether it’s through school, their community, or local nonprofits,” said Smith. “It’s really great to see a group of young kids that are so willing to give back to their community.”
Although the program operates outside of school hours and does not offer school credit currently, students commit time each month because they recognize the value of doing so. Smith believes one of the biggest benefits is helping students understand just how much time and effort go into the decisions that shape everyday life. This is one of the most direct ways for students in Lexington to learn about their government and gain firsthand experience in how a community functions. Smith points to the simple examples often overlooked in day-to-day life.
“When you look up and see a traffic light, you don’t think about traffic patterns in your everyday life. You don’t think about what goes into hosting an event in your everyday life, and you don’t think about what goes into which signs are allowed to be put up on the streets or outside of businesses,” said Smith. “The youth ambassadors are the future leaders of our town, of our community, so it’s a great way for them to learn how it works.”
Even more important to town leaders is the opportunity to learn from the youth in their town and create a two-way conversation.
“We can teach them how it works all day long, but at the same time, they’re teaching us their perspective, their needs, things that they think are important, which a lot of times doesn’t get thought about as much because they’re younger,” said Smith.
As the program continues to develop, its impact will expand beyond the 12 students selected each year as they influence and assist others in Lexington with what they’ve learned. The town leadership aspires to educate the students on how Lexington functions so they can go on to inform others around them.