Yes they can, and make a difference What is CanTeen?
City’s Newest Initiative Engages the Next Generation One of Canton Mayor Bill Grant’s goals is to give “the next generation as many reasons to love the city of Canton as much as we do.” To this end, he has created a program called CanTeen, an active engagement outreach to high school students in Canton. The initiative is designed to create opportunities for youth leadership through volunteerism, service and giving input on policy issues. Participants will collaborate to identify youth issues in the community and help develop positive solutions. Leading the effort are Laney Cline, Kenzie Rodriguez and Sophia Melbourne, who were chosen because of their diverse backgrounds, enthusiasm for engagement and interest in moving Canton forward for younger citizens. Sophia was on the original advisory board as a freshmen, and she has provided a lot of leadership. It’s imperative, Grant said, to make Canton a city to which our youth will want to return once their secondary education is completed. He hopes to get started, as soon as the pandemic subsides, by conducting a citywide CanTeen Town Hall meeting in a fun setting “to actively listen to our teenage citizens about their concerns and future hopes and dreams for our city.”
CanTeen | @cantoncanteen 14
AROUND CANTON | September 2021
Laney: CanTeen is a youth involvement organization working alongside the city of Canton to better incorporate teens and teen input. This initiative is led by three CanTeen Council members, Sophia Melbourne, Kenzie Rodriguez and me. Though CanTeen is just getting started, we seek to get as many teens involved as possible and host lots of diverse events, catered to teens, and showcasing Canton’s finest features. CanTeen is a unique opportunity for the youth of Canton to learn more about their local government, and connect with and lead alongside others.
What is CanTeen looking to showcase about Canton?
Kenzie: Through CanTeen, we want our council to display all of the wonders of our small town in a way that can be exciting while stimulating new interests among teens in the community. Whether it be showcasing small businesses downtown, highlighting natural attractions around the city, or even generating more youth involvement in governmental aspects of Canton, CanTeen is an initiative that aspires to create a widespread interest in leadership and future community involvement well into our lives past adolescence. With the brand new events we hope to introduce to the city in the near future, we would be grateful to see more teenagers reach out to be a part of this program and facilitate these steps toward building a closer community in Canton.
