Youth Forum Held In Rainier

By:  Linda J. Johnson

The South County Spring Youth Forum was held in the Rainier High School Commons last Wednesday.  Rainier Community Cares, Rainier Organization of caring Students, and the YWCA Girls for a Change put on this event.  This was the second forum held during this school year.  

State Senator Randi Becker, County Commissioner Sandra Romero, State Representative Graham Hunt from Orting and State Representative J.T. Wilcox from Yelm were on the panel who answered the RHS students questions.

The first student, a football player, asked about the size of their school lunches.  He gave an example of receiving only 4 chicken nuggets per lunch.  Some athletic students need to buy 2 or 3 lunches to get enough to eat. 

One panel member asked him about bringing his own lunch.  The student said didn’t want to do that, “Many of the students are on the free or reduced lunch program and that would make them stand out.” 

One of the panel members asked, “What if this is the only meal a student receives during the day?  That’s not enough food.” 

The audience was quiet until Tim Garchow spoke.  Tim said that the lunches are portion controlled.  The federal guidelines are so strict that even the noodles have to be weighed in order to comply.  The school district needs the federal reimbursement for the lunch program.  The panel members agreed to look into getting the portions increased.

The panel openly talked about how good bills go bad, not because senators and representatives don’t want to do the right thing.  It’s hard to draw a consensus, because everyone has different ideas of how to do the right thing.  Bills go from one committee to another; the House of Representative to the Senate.  It’s a long, arduous process.

Randi Becker talked about the “unintended consequences” of bills and laws.  She mentioned her phlebotomy bill.  “It was a good bill.”  Then it went to committee.  “They flubbed it, and flubbed it and they flubbed it again, until it got phlebotomized!” 

We were told where to find out how our senators and representatives vote, as well as to find information about our state government and services.  http://access.wa.gov

The students from Rainier ROCS and YMCA Girls for a Change,  made a presentation of their work to the panel  on “ Lets Draw the Line between Youth and Alcohol” a campaign to increase awareness of the harmful effects of alcohol on teens and what they are doing to make the community aware of the issues involved.

The forum lasted almost two hours with high school students asking questions.  The panel discussed everything from politics, to committees, consensus to mental health issues and academic achievement.  In the end, the panel explained how important it is for citizens to get involved in politics and community service, at the local level. 

A special thank you was given to Mayor Randy Schleis and the RHS staff and students for their help in making the forum successful.   

After the forum ended all of the representatives commented on how impressed they were with the turnout and student enthusiasm.  J.T. Wilcox was particularly impressed with the tough questions the students asked.  Graham Hunt, Sandra Romero & Randi Becker agreed and said they really enjoyed coming to Rainier.