{"id":36241,"date":"2025-05-08T17:40:47","date_gmt":"2025-05-08T21:40:47","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.newspapers-online.com\/auroran\/?p=36241"},"modified":"2025-05-15T15:43:51","modified_gmt":"2025-05-15T19:43:51","slug":"mayor-youth-committee-leaders-launch-youth-week-with-flag-raising-ceremony","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newspapers-online.com\/auroran\/mayor-youth-committee-leaders-launch-youth-week-with-flag-raising-ceremony\/","title":{"rendered":"Mayor, Youth Committee leaders launch Youth Week with flag-raising ceremony"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Mayor Tom Mrakas and the Town\u2019s Youth Engagement Committee members delivered a series of engaging speeches at Town Hall on Thursday afternoon to usher in \u201cYouth Week.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Director of Community Services Robin McDougall implemented her rainy-day plan and welcomed over forty attendees into Aurora Council Chambers.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

McDougall highlighted the importance of recognizing the work that is done by the Youth Engagement Committee.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cThe week ahead is all about celebrating youth across Canada,\u201d she said. \u201cThe youth of our community are not only the leaders of our future, but they are also leaders today.  We want our youth to be valued and heard in Aurora.\u201d <\/p>\n\n\n\n

McDougall introduced a triumvirate of youth leaders who delivered concise keynotes about the YEC and the value of their experience after serving three-year terms.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

YEC President Naya Mueller outlined the importance of activities coordinated by the YEC, including \u201cthe 3-on-3 Basketball Tournament at SARC, the Drop In Centre, and the Take Over Event at the AFLC.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Co-President Jessica Nigul spoke glowingly of the \u201cYEC\u2019s participation in the Haunted Forest and Youth Skate Night which were exciting initiatives for local youth.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Nigul also made a pitch for \u201cteens 12-17 to join the committee and the see the inner workings of the Town.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Co-President Dabria Peta-Dragos closed the keynote addresses by noting the importance of the flag-raising ceremony in \u201craising hope and raising unity in the community.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cWe are the change-makers of today,\u201d she said. \u201cAs the Youth Week flag raises today, we are raised, too.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

After Peta-Dragos\u2019s soaring oratory, Mayor Mrakas praised all three leaders for their powers of articulation and public presence.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cThree impressive speeches this afternoon\u2014these three could be sitting at this [Council Chamber] table right now,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The Mayor recognized Mueller, Nigul, and Peta-Dragos collectively: \u201cTo these three high school seniors\u2014your message is inspiring to so many of us.  Thanks for your contributions to our community for the last three years. We deeply appreciate everything you have done for our Council.  By investing in our youth as we do, we provide them with the tools to build a better future for us and for themselves.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Mayor Mrakas delineated the impressive list of youth programs in Aurora and expressed much interest in competing in the Table Tennis tournament organized by the YEC.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

After mulling over his participation in the tourney, Mrakas shifted gears from his ping pong prowess and formally proclaimed May 1-7 as \u201cYouth Week.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Following the formal proclamation, the group of 40 reconvened outside at the Town Hall\u2019s flag poles. With brisk efficacy in the pouring rain, the Mayor and the YEC members performed the flag-raising ceremony without a hitch and overcome the challenges of the inclement weather.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The rain in no way dampened the intrepid quartet\u2019s effort to formally commence Youth Week.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Ward 1 Councillor Ron Weese, an ardent advocate of youth recreation both in his role as Town Councillor and as the long-time President of Sport Aurora, praised the dedicated leadership of the Youth Committee after the ceremony.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Councillor Weese was duly impressed by the oratory skills demonstrated by Mueller, Nigul, and Peta-Dragos in their respective keynote addresses.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cThey showed poise and confidence this afternoon and they loved contributing to the community.  It\u2019s a great message for everybody to get involved in local government.  There were so many positives here this afternoon and it\u2019s so inspirational to see the youth of Aurora take a leadership role whether it\u2019s sports or recreation.  These aren\u2019t just the leaders of tomorrow\u2014they\u2019re leading today and learning about the business of government.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

By<\/p>\n\"Facebook\"<\/a>\"twitter\"<\/a>\"mail\"<\/a>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Mayor Tom Mrakas and the Town\u2019s Youth Engagement Committee members delivered a series of engaging speeches at Town Hall on Thursday afternoon to usher in \u201cYouth Week.\u201d Director of Community Services Robin McDougall implemented her rainy-day plan and welcomed over forty attendees into Aurora Council Chambers. McDougall highlighted the importance of recognizing the work that […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":36242,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_feature_clip_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2},"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false},"categories":[4,5],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-36241","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-general_news","category-news"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p3D2k4-9qx","publishpress_future_action":{"enabled":false,"date":"2026-08-22 01:17:26","action":"change-status","newStatus":"draft","terms":[],"taxonomy":"category","extraData":[]},"publishpress_future_workflow_manual_trigger":{"enabledWorkflows":[]},"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/www.newspapers-online.com\/auroran\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/05\/2025-05-08-02.jpg","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newspapers-online.com\/auroran\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/36241","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newspapers-online.com\/auroran\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newspapers-online.com\/auroran\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newspapers-online.com\/auroran\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newspapers-online.com\/auroran\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=36241"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/www.newspapers-online.com\/auroran\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/36241\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":36250,"href":"https:\/\/www.newspapers-online.com\/auroran\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/36241\/revisions\/36250"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newspapers-online.com\/auroran\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/36242"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newspapers-online.com\/auroran\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=36241"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newspapers-online.com\/auroran\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=36241"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newspapers-online.com\/auroran\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=36241"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}