Student Ambassador program helps community

“Welcome to the City Council meeting!” are the words I always say when greeting visitors, as a Student Ambassador, to the Glendale City Council meetings.

The Student Ambassador Program is a way for students from various high schools to get involved in their community by volunteering in City Council meetings to act as representatives. Student Ambassadors attend the meeting held every Tuesday for about five months. Ten students are currently enrolled in the program.

After attending an appointment and interview with Clark graduate Lyova Zalyan, who now works as

theinstructor of the Student Ambassador Program, I received a phone call in June from Zalyan a few hours after my appointment. “Congratulations, you have been accepted into the Student Ambassador Program,”  Zalyan said. “You will be trained on the program next week.”

The following week I became a Student Ambassador. I stood waiting inside the City Clerk office dressed in my black suit, white dress shirt, dark solid tie and dress shoes. While I was waiting, I felt excited and nervous at the same time because I didn’t know what to expect. I was surprised to see other Clark Magnet and Glendale High School students who got accepted into the program. Most Student Ambassadors looked familiar because they go to the same high school as me.

When the other Student Ambassadors and I began our training, Zalyan took us for a tour around City Hall to learn where everything is located and the significance of each room. I was astonished with the design and history of the building because it was my first time being in the Glendale City Hall.

After the quick tour, we were seated in the council chambers where we learned the objectives of a Student Ambassador. The Student Ambassadors act as representatives welcoming new attendees, explaining the agendas and answering any questions pertaining to the meetings. Zalyan explained the agenda, request-to-speak cards and the proceedings to every council meeting. He then taught us how to assist new attendees with any questions they may have along with the different stations each Student Ambassadors would be assigned for each meeting.

Student Ambassador Lauren Alparaz, a senior at Clark, said she was surprised by how much effort goes into each council meeting. “On the first day of training, it was strange to me how much goes into the meetings, especially if you just catch them on TV,” Alparaz said. “They seem really dull, but a lot goes into it.” Zalyan also told us about an incident that caused police and SWAT officers to appear in City Hall. A janitor was cleaning in the council chambers and accidentally hit the panic button near the desks of the council members. When the officers arrived Zalyan had to apologize for the mistake of the janitor.

When training day was over I still wasn’t sure if I was ready for the upcoming meeting that would be the real start to the Ambassador Program. It was a lot of information to digest on the first day. So on the days that we did not have a meeting, I studied my notes so that I could be prepared to answer and assist attendees.

Prior to each council meeting, for the first 30 minutes, Zalyan tests us on what items are on the agenda to make sure we have the appropriate knowledge to assist anyone who has questions. Zalyan would say to us, “So what’s on the agenda, guys?” At one meeting I responded by saying, “Consent item C, street and sewer improvements,” showing my knowledge of the meeting’s agenda.

For the first meeting in June, my station was to sit and observe the City Council meetings from the back of the room. I learned about different problems that I never knew existed in Glendale every time citizens would bring those problem before Council members. Different organizations would propose plans with PowerPoints on how to improve situations concerning the community. Student Ambassador Elika Reyes, a senior at Clark, said that she learned about the issues and problems the City of Glendale is facing and how the City Council proposes solutions to address these problems.

While observing with me, Student Ambassador Elizabeth Minasian, a junior at Clark, said that she learned about different organizations that showed up to the council meetings. “For example,” Minasian said “I came to know about the Armenian National Committee of America, when a representative from the committee discussed about her trip to Armenia with one of the council members.”

I also learned that every project that goes on in Glendale is announced and discussed by the Council members and later opened to the public to give any thoughts. For example, after Council member Sinanyan discussed the Scholl Canyon landfill project, he opened the discussion to the public. Mike Mohill, a Glendale resident, always participates in these discussions, giving his opinion on the matter. In all of the meetings I attended, Mohill was always in attendance.

Mohill has many heated arguments with the mayor and is usually the highlight of most meetings, according to all the Student Ambassadors. Many Student Ambassadors and attendees enjoy seeing him speak in the council meetings because it’s interesting for the audience and controversial to the other council members. Alparaz said that Mike Mohill is actually her favorite person at the meetings, as he keeps everyone on their toes.

After the meeting we have a debriefing where we talk about what happened. All of us ask Zalyan questions pertaining to the meetings. Sometimes Zalyan explains to us confusing items and he talks about the most important item that happened from the agenda.

The Glendale City clerk originally started the program for high school students in 2011, according to Zalyan. The main goal of the program is to make high school students more educated and interested in voting. “I was part of the pilot program and we started evolving the program as the years went by,” Zalyan said. “We went to different high schools to recruit a variety of teenagers and we wanted to give an opportunity to all high school students.”

Joining the Student Ambassador program helped me develop useful skills that I can use every day. One of these skills that I improved in was communication. During the council meetings, I had to always communicate with new attendees that had questions pertaining to the agenda. In one meeting a visitor asked “Where can I fill a request-to-speak Card” I would answer, “If you go to the second floor in the council chambers, their would be a table on your left you could fill out.”

Minasian said that she benefited from the program in many ways. “I didn’t really join the Student Ambassador program for my college application,” said Minasian “I did it for the experience because it looks really good after college when you have experience talking to people outside your comfort zone.”

Student Ambassadors often get good feedback from people. “This group of students that we have now are great,” Zalyan said. “They are always professionally dress and well prepared before the meetings. They are always ready to help our residents with a smile.”