WAUPUN — Four students met Tuesday evening to discuss plans for the new Youth Advisory Council, spearheaded by Jaelle Weinberger.
The Youth Advisory Council was proposed as a way to encourage more youth involvement to the Waupun Common Council at the July 28 meeting. Policies for the YAC were also approved at the Special Common Council meeting on August 25.
The meeting was an unofficial, pre-formation meeting held in the City Council chambers on September 1, 2026 at 6PM.
The meeting was attended by Jaelle Weinberger (who will serve as chair), Annika Bouwkamp (vice chair), Dominic Devries (secretary), Kenna Holbach (media). Also in attendance were Mayor Rohn Bishop, City Administrator Kathy Schlieve, and Waupun Pioneer News editor/writer Jaedon Buchholz.
The Youth Advisory Council will not be an official board with any kind of decisionmaking power. The group will meet to discuss local issues that local students may have concerns or ideas about, and it would only serve an advisory role. Members will attend some City Council meetings to present these ideas, which the Council may take into consideration for the future.
Weinberger discussed her plans for how the group will function. She said that she would like each student to have a leadership position in some way, as well as have something to present to the City so it’s not a handful of students who do everything.
She also said she’d like various people from community leadership positions to attend the meetings to bring more connections to the group. This could include aldermen, police officers, teachers, business leadership, and others.
Weinberger covered each positions’ responsibilities. The chair will coordinate with guest speakers and run meetings, as well as representing the YAC to Common Council meetings. The secretary will be taking minutes, track attendance, as well as handling treasurer responsibilities until the treasurer needs to be appointed. Media will manage the social media accounts and share the videos and content to Facebook, Instagram, and Tiktok, as well as public relations.
Members would also get service hours for participating, including for meetings, presentation prep, and role specific responsibilities. This would encourage students to break out of their shells and grow their skills.
“I really want to build out leadership skills and improve comfortability in each person,” Weinberger said during the meeting.
Jaelle said that they would encourage members to choose a topic they are passionate about for this reason.
Devries said that the cross country club has had issues with a lack of sidewalk along some streets they use for practice, namely Lincoln St across from DCI and also on the corner with S Grove St near the baseball diamonds. Holbach said she’d like to get more art in the community such as galleries like the Library or Hospital, or they could paint murals around town or some other art project.
They also said they’d like to organize events in town such as at the Waupun Community Center, even as early as this Christmas.
If they get interest from students they’ll provide the list of applicants to Kathy Schlieve for approval. It’s mostly “peer to peer recruitment” including for daily announcements at the high schools.
Jaelle said that the purpose of the YAC is to “educate students about the civic process.”
Mayor Bishop said that the City is supportive about getting young people interested in local government, but cautioned that group members should be very prepared when presenting to the Council. He recommended that when making a case for specific policies or projects to have a plan for follow through.
The Youth Advisory Council will be officially formed after a recruitment process through September. A form will be available at WASD High School for interested students which will close on September 16. Jaelle also said she will have a meeting with the CWC superintendant later this week to see if they could connect with CWC students interested in being members of the committee.
Induction for new members will be held September 21 at 5:30PM at City Hall in the City Council chambers. The first official meeting will be October 5, and meetings will be held on the first Tuesday of every month going forward.
Students who are interested in participating should reach out to any current members of the board, Waupun High School administration, or to City Hall for more information. The YAC is open to students from WASD, CWC, and local homeschoolers.
