Weston Loughmiller, a sophomore at Fairmont High School, is helping shape public policy as a member of the Minnesota Youth Council.

The council is a collaborative effort of youth and adults working to empower and mobilize young people across the state to exercise their voices, opinions and ideas, and to take action on issues affecting youth.

“We’re a legislative advisory group to the Capitol,” Loughmiller said. “There are hearings on bills pertaining to youth that they’ll either approve or pass. It’s a way for [lawmakers] to get official youth endorsement on certain bills.”

Loughmiller is youth representative for District 1. There are 36 students across the state in grades 8-12 who comprise the group. There are two youth-led committees: policy and education. Loughmiller is on the policy committee.

“I came across the application [to get involved with the council] on the Capitol website and it was two days before it was due so I filled it out,” Loughmiller said.

He applied at the end of his eighth-grade year and was on the council for the first time as a freshman.

He explained how he became interested in politics.

“I think around seventh grade is when I first started pay attention,” he said. “Around then was the first presidential election that I paid attention to because I wasn’t a third-grader. And then being on the speech team helps too.”

In speech, he participates in extemporaneous speaking, which involves current events.

Loughmiller also is active in soccer, Knowledge Bowl, Boy Scouts, band and orchestra.

The Youth Council meets quarterly in the Twin Cities. The first meeting is an orientation, the second a planning session and the next few focused on legislation. In addition to the quarterly meetings, Loughmiller takes part in bi-weekly online discussions.

“The MYC runs through a parent organization called the Minnesota Alliance with Youth. All the people that help run the MYC are hired through that,” Loughmiller explained.

Some of the bills the council has been involved with include children’s rights to legal counsel in custody or abuse cases, and working to create more funding for mental health support in schools.

Loughmiller said legislators typically come to the council to plead their cases. The council then renders its verdict.

Students need to re-apply to stay on the council each year, and Loughmiller plans to re-apply. Loughmiller says he is interested in going on to study public policy.

When asked about his favorite part of being on the council, Loughmiller replied, “Probably the opportunities it gives me like getting to see cool exhibits at the Minnesota History museum, or being an integral part of the legislative hearings, and the friends from across the state that I’ve met.”