The newly formed Orion Township Youth Advisory Council joined the Orion Township Board of Trustees during the board’s meeting on Monday. The Youth Advisory Council, made up of local high school students, will form its own bylaws, work on a community project and offer a new perspective to township government. Photo provided by Orion Twp.

By Jim Newell
Managing Editor
ORION TWP. — Orion Township government has a new council that will take on a community project and offer a new perspective to township government.
The township introduced its Youth Advisory Council during the board of trustees meeting on Monday – 15 local high school students who will develop council bylaws, elect their own slate of officers and develop a community project that they will work on in 2024, said Chelsie Petrusha, Orion Township Parks & Recreation programmer and co-advisor for the youth council.
“We wanted to have a bigger voice in our community and saw this as a great opportunity to do so,” Petrusha said. “They all have unique attributes in a variety of extracurricular activities that they’ll bring to the council.”
Along with Petrusha, Brittney Bunker from the Orion Township Treasurer’s Department will serve as advisor to the council.
The 15 students on the council are Abigail Eagan, Abigail Lee, Addison Ocholik, Aiden Callahan, Alessandra Castillo, Caroline Eagan, Glory Guilmette, Hailey Reighard, Julian Rodriguez, Katherine Kehrer, Madison Loken, Martina Dominguez, Trey Brunckhorst, Vandita Sharma and William Ebbert.
The Orion Township Youth Advisory Council is open to high school-aged youth, who can serve for the duration of their high school tenure. Freshmen, for instance, can serve four years on the council, if they wish, said Petrusha, adding that besides helping the community and offering a different perspective to the township, it’s also “a very good experience that they can put on their college applications.”
The township previously had a Youth Advisory Council in 2012, but that council had become defunct.
The township wanted to restart the council a few years ago, but the pandemic had delayed that endeavor. Township staff received and reviewed applications earlier this fall and selected the first group of 15 students this month, Petrusha said.
Any seniors on the council will serve until they finish high school, so the township will post openings and accept new applications once seats on the council become available, Petrusha said.
For more information, visit OrionTownship.org or contact the parks and recreation department.