Youth Connection is a product of

Bellevue Youth Link

Youth Link is a partnership of

the City of Bellevue and

Bellevue public schools

Inside this IssueYouth Involvement Conference pg. 1Super Bowl pg. 22012 Elections pg. 2Youth Link: Gumbo Night pg. 3Youth Link: Surveys pg. 3Eastshore Solo and Ensemble pg. 4Chop Shop: Bodies of Work pg. 5JSA: Winter Congress pg. 5DECA Competition pg. 5Valentine’s Day pg. 6Chinese New Year pg. 6Mid-Winter Break pg. 7Recipe: Meringue Hearts pg. 7Fiction Section pg. 8About Us pg. 11

Step Up, Speak Out, and Break Through at This Year’s Youth Involvement Conference!

By Julia Liu

Do you want your opinions to be valued in your community? If you would like to share your voice with other youth and adults in the city, the 2012 Youth Involvement Confer-ence is a great way to ensure that your thoughts are heard. The City of Bellevue will be hosting its bian-nual Youth Involvement Conference late April at Bellevue City Hall to encourage youth in the community to follow its motto to Step Up, Speak Out, and Break Through! Although this conference will be held on a Friday, attending this event will count as an excused absence be-cause it will provide an opportunity to have learning experiences outside the typical classroom setting. The Youth Involvement Conference will provide workshops in partnership with technology giants Nintendo, Apple, and Microsoft and commu-nity improvement groups such as the Washington Community Action Net-work. Students will be able to attend three out of fifteen workshop options on from technology and high school issues to college prep and financial advice. In addition, this conference will feature keynote speakers from

members of the community who advocate for youth activism involve-ment in the community. At the previ-ous Youth Involvement Conference, Rick Teegarden, the founder of the Kid’s Care Coat Drive project, and Darrell Fischer, a corporate magi-cian, told inspiring stories and gave empowering advice. This event is completely free and open to all youth! More information will be released closer to the event date. Keep your eyes peeled for updates!

February 2012

NFL Super Bowl Takes American Broadcasting by Storm

The Super Bowl is the championship game of the NFL. This year the 46th Super Bowl in NFL History was played in Indianapolis on Feb. 5th. The two teams were the New York Giants, representing the NFC, and the New England Patriots, representing the AFC, with the Giants winning 21 to 17. The Super Bowl is one of the most watched televi-sion broadcasts in U.S. history—topping the list of top 50 Most Watched TV Broadcasts multiple times. This

year’s game set the record for highest rated TV show ever, watched by approximately 111.3 million people. The Bridgestone Super Bowl halftime show is the most-watched musical event of the year. This year’s show included Madonna. Past performers include The Black Eyed Peas, The Who, Bruce Springsteen & The E Street Band, Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers, Prince, the Rolling Stones, Paul McCartney and U2. The Super Bowl is a high energy event that many people, including myself, enjoyed and cherish. Every year, people in America celebrate this event in various ways from parties to family gatherings. It was a thrill-ing game that did not end until the fourth quarter. I believe that Eli Manning should be considered one of the elite quarterbacks in the NFL, and that Tom Brady will make it into the NFL Hall of Fame some-day. The NFL and the Super Bowl will continue to be successful for years to come and I look forward to savoring the greatness of one of America’s pastimes—football.

By Cody Ng

By Richard Tsai

During today’s rough economic times, jobs are scarce and everyone is depending on the government to step up and help our country get back on its feet. As a result, 2012 Republican Election remains a hot topic across the United States. The 57th quadrennial United States Presidential Election will be held on November 6, 2012, featuring current President Bar-rack Obama against the winner of the nomination on the republican side. The Iowa caucus took place on Tuesday. January 3rd of this year. It may have been the clos-est contest in caucus history, with Rick Santorum, former senator of Pennsylvania, taking the victory over Mitt Romney, governor of Massachusetts, by 34 votes. Ini-

Preparations for 2012 Presidential Election Heat Up

tially Romney was named victo-rious by a slim margin of eight votes, but later that day, Santorum was officially announced the win-ner because 8 of the 1,774 pre-cincts were missing in the the vote certification process. On January 4th, Republican Candidate Mi-chele Bachmann suspended her campaign for the Republican nominee, saying that “there is no viable way forward. The New Hampshire Primary was later held on Tuesday Janu-ary 10th, with thirty candidates on the ballot, a record number for the Republican Party in the na-tion’s first primary state. Rom-ney took the win over candidate Ron Paul. Soon afterwards, Jon Huntsman withdrew from the race and endorsed Mitt Romney.

Rick Perry also withdrew to sup-port Newt Gringrich. The South Carolina Pri-mary was held on January 21st in which Newt Gringrich took a huge win over Mitt Romney. However, Romney was victorious in the Florida Primary on Janu-ary 31st. Debates will remain crucial in persuading the people as attacks among the Republican candidates become more aggres-sive.

Food for Thought: Gumbo Night

Mission Possible: Survey Collection

February 8th is the date of a crucial event for the Bellevue Youth Council. Over thirty youth and adults will gather in a single house to converse, build bonds, and of course, eat gum-bo. During this event, hosted by Sherry Grindeland, youth will have the opportunity to become more familiar with the adults who are in charge of city issues including city council members, and other city officials. For a couple of hours, youth

of Bellevue can engage adults about issues that they see in the community, in schools or in other community facilities. It is a great way to make connec-tions with the people in charge of running the city. Conversations will flow about school policies to city ac-tivities. This annual event allows council members to connect with one another outside of the formal meeting environment of City Hall, and of course, enjoy

the food. It all goes toward building a connected council that can work more effectively to serve the community as a whole.

By Alex Tang

By Alex Tang

After months of planning and numerous edits, Bellevue Youth Link Board rolled out the first wave of its survey online via Survey Monkey. Bellevue Youth Link members also visited vari-ous hubs in the Bellevue community to gather data on the ideal direction the program should take toward addressing youth concerns. Volunteers gathered responses at the Jubilee Reach Center, the Magic Season Ice Rink, Bellevue Square Mall, Crossroads Mall, Bellevue Youth Theatre, and Crossroads Community Center. Surveys were also distributed to schools in the Bellevue School District. During this process, Bellevue Youth Link

has successfully distributed and collected over 1,700 surveys, well over the initial goal of 1,000. This month, the Bellevue Youth Board has been preparing to present to the Bellevue Youth Coun-cil an updated charge and new goals for the next few years based upon these gathered community opinions. If you would like to give your take on commu-nity programs, there is still time to fill out a sur-vey. You can take it at http://www.surveymonkey.com/s/youthlink.

Bellevue Music Students Gear up for Eastshore Solo and Ensemble Contest

By Maggie Locke

Students dressed in black walk through the doors of Liberty High School. Many of them are carrying dark, heavy cases. Their faces wear determined and anxious expressions. However, as they enter Lib-erty High School, the atmosphere changes, as it becomes a bright, vibrant community of enthusiastic musicians. String players, wind players, brass players, pianists, and singers gather around to congratu-late each other on a job well done, and encourage fellow musicians who have yet to play. This year, the WMEA East-shore Solo and Ensemble Contest was held on January 28th. Solo and Ensemble is an event in which middle school and high school musi-cians form ensembles or prepare solos to play for the judges. The judges then award them with ratings from I to IV, with I being the most desir-able. In addition, the judges give the students valuable advice on how to improve their performances. The highest scoring performers in each category move on the State Solo and Ensemble Contest. In preparation for the Solo and Ensemble Contest, students spend at least a month practicing with their ensembles at school as well as during their free time. In my string quartet at Interlake High School, we prac-ticed our individual parts at home and came to school prepared to work

as a team. My quartet worked on coordination, musical expression, and dynamics among many other musi-cal elements. We were very lucky that clinicians were able to come in and work with us as they provided a valuable second perspective. At the end of a month’s hard work, the Solo and Ensemble Con-test was the final test of our efforts. As the contest neared, my quartet pulled extra practice and envisioned the musical scene the composer must have imagined. We arrived at Solo and Ensemble to warm up and stepped into the adjudicating room. My quartet played as we had practiced. It was exhilarating to hear the thunderous applause from our audience of family and friends, and see the smiles from the members of my quartet. I am pleased to say that our hard work paid off, and we were awarded a rating of I. However, the experi-ence at Solo and Ensemble is not one

of aggressive competition and relent-less pressure—Solo and Ensemble was filled with the encouragement and camaraderie of fellow musicians and musical enthusiasts. It helps stu-dents improve their musical playing, and gives them a channel for their enthusiasm and dedication. In short, the Solo and Ensemble experience was a valuable experience for musi-cians of all levels and it promotes our continued love for music.

Junior Statesmen of America Take on Winter Congress

Chop Shop, an annual contemporary dance festival, will be celebrat-ing its fifth year with an amazing performance to be held at Meydenbau-er Theatre on February 11th, and 12th. The performance features many accomplished dancers and it has been dubbed “one of the most impor-tant dance events of the year.” Multiple dancers from multiple compa-nies will be taking the stage by storm as they promise to stir the senses. Buy your tickets now for this amazing, one-of-a-kind show, as the event sells out quickly! More information about the festival can be found at: http://www.chopshopdance.org/.

By Alisha Saxena

Chop Shop: Bodies of Work Arrives in Bellevue

Bellevue DECA Means Business

Last month, hun-dreds of Bellevue high school students dressed in their best formal clothing in order to compete in the Distributive Education Clubs of

The first weekend this February, over 200 students from all over the Pacific Northwest travelled to partici-pate in the annual Junior Statesmen of America Winter Congress convention in Portland, Oregon. Junior Statesmen of America (JSA) is a non-partisan, non-profit organization dedicated to helping high school students develop the leadership skills and knowledge nec-essary to act as capable debaters, voters, and members of the political community. It is also the largest organization in the United States that is run entirely by high school students. Students meet to discuss issues and topics that routinely appear in the House and Senate, ranging from education and healthcare to gay marriage, and abortion. Winter Congress is structured similarly to an actual meeting of the United States Congress. Prior to the event, students wrote and sent in bills to be debated and voted on during the convention. One participant said, “Winter Congress and JSA

By Alisha Saxena

America (DECA) Area 4 competition at Mey-denbauer. DECA provides a competitive plat-form for students interested in business and marketing. Students had the option of compet-ing in a variety of events, from written business plans and advertisement campaigns to role-plays with real-life business scenarios. The competition day passed in a blur as students rushed from one meeting room to the next. The opening and closing ceremonies were lively with chattering competitors and upbeat music in the background. Not surpris-ingly, many students from the Bellevue School District (namely, Interlake and Newport High Schools) swept the awards and qualified for the Washington State DECA Conference this March. Congratulations to all the winners, and good luck at the state competition!

By Grace Chai

have provided me with the opportunity to inform myself about issues that are relevant and important to my community, as develop speaking skills that I believe will be invaluable in the future.”

Valentine’s Day: <3 and $pendingBy Noelle Kola

Valentine’s Day - possibly one of the most heartfelt giving holidays. It is no wonder you might be scrambling to find something for him or her. It needs to be special. It needs to be perfect. It needs to demonstrate every ounce of love you have that one person. Daunting, isn’t it? Maybe you’re not even looking in the right places. What are other people getting their loved ones on the day of hearts? The answers to that question can be found in a Lifestyle survey:

• Most consumers will spend on jewelry. Sales total $4.1 billion nationwide • More than 13% will buy gift cards • The average male is expected to spend $168.74 this year—nearly twice as much as women who are expected to spend an average of $85.76 • Half of all celebrants will buy candy • 36% will buy flowers • 35.6% will treat their loved one to an eve- ning out

Gong Xi Fa Cai! This is a com-mon phrase as Chinese families call their loved ones to welcome the New Year and wish one another long lives, good grades in school, and plentiful food. It directly translates to “Wish you prosperity”, which is what Chinese New Year is all about. Chinese New Year falls on Janu-ary 23rd this year. There are two main traditions associated with the New Year—red envelopes, and the lion dance. Red envelopes are given to young people from those who are married. They are considered lucky because the color red is believed to drive away bad spirits or monsters. When receiving the red envelope, it is polite to use both hands and not

Chinese new Year: The Year of The waTer Dr gonBy Rachel Lau

open it right away. It is respectful to wait until you are out of sight of the giver before opening it and count-ing the money inside. The lion dance consists of a red dragon, a black dragon, a white dragon, and a small yellow dragon. There is also a Laughing Buddha, or a mask with a huge smile and a fan. They often travel from shop to shop. Each shop owner gives the dragon an orange or vegetable with a red envelope attached. The dragon keeps the red envelope and spits out the greens, symbolizing the banish-ment of evil. And of course, there is always music from drums, cymbals and gongs. Have a lucky Year of the Water Dragon!

As your Valentine’s Day forecaster, I’m anticipat-ing high foot traffic in the coming weeks along with a step in the right direction for our economy, as this Valentine’s day will see the highest spend-ing done in ten years. It is always nice to have money to spend someone you love, but as Kinky Friedman said, “Money can buy you a fine dog, but only love can make him wag his tail.” Now whether or not your special someone has fur and a tail, saying “I love you” can make anyone feel like a million bucks.

Beating the Winter BLuesBy Sooil Kim

After a week of missing school due to snow, it’s that time of year to take another week off. Mid-Winter Break is just around the corner and your joyous poten-tial for entertainment will strike you faster than you can imagine. But how exactly can you fill this exciting time?

Recipe: Meringue Hearts Love is in the air, and what better way to celebrate than with a beautiful dessert? These Merengue Hearts are like homemade marshmal-lows, with a delicious strawberry puree and pink whipped cream on the side. This Valentine’s Day dessert takes individual heart-shaped meringues and tops them with a layer of strawberry whipped cream and fresh raspberries. For an extra special presentation, scatter a few raspberries around the meringues and then make it snow by sprinkling of powdered sugar.

1) Preheat oven to 250 degrees F and place racks in upper and lower third of your oven. Line two baking sheets with parchment paper. Using a 4 inch heart-shaped cookie cutter as your guide, draw 6 hearts on each piece of paper. 2) Beat the egg whites in your electric mixer on low-medium speed until foamy. Add the cream of tartar and continue to beat the whites until they hold soft peaks. Add the sugar, a little at a time, and continue to beat until the meringue holds stiff peaks. Transfer the meringue to a pastry bag fitted with a 1/2 inch plain tip. 3) Place a small spot of meringue at each corner of the pan to attach the parchment paper to the baking sheets. Pipe the meringue within the perimeters of the 12 heart shapes you have drawn on the parchment. Smooth with an offset spatula. 4) Bake in preheated oven for 60 to 70 minutes, alternating the baking sheets, top to bottom and front to back, about halfway through baking. The meringues are done when they release easily from the parchment paper. When the meringues are baked, turn off the oven, open the oven door slightly, and leave the meringues for another half hour.

5) For the strawberry whipped cream: Combine the whipping cream, vanilla extract, and sugar in a large mixing bowl. Cover and chill the bowl and beaters in the refrigerator for at least 30 minutes. When chilled, beat the mixture until soft peaks form. Then add the sweetened strawberry puree, a little at a time, beating just until stiff peaks form when the beater is raised. Taste and fold in more sugar or puree, if needed. To assemble, fill a pastry bag fitted with a star tip, pipe, or else spoon the whipped cream on top of the meringues and serve with berries and extra strawberry puree, if desired. Store leftover meringues in a cool dry airtight container up to one week.

By Rachel Lau

Want to go out of state? Then it’s your time to shine at the warmest and hottest places on earth. The drizzling hot parts of Hawaii such as Honolulu, or the warm beaches of Maui can ease up on that chilly atmosphere! Just want try out local events? Well, jump into the holiday of skiing and snowboarding because Stevens Pass, Snoqualmie, and Crystal Mountain are great snow sport resorts. Also, you can enjoy having a nice family meal as nearby restaurants such as P.F Chang’s, Din Tai Fung, or Wild Ginger await your order! Just take the time to enjoy this winter vacation with your family and friends and catch up on stories that you haven’t heard in a while. Maybe something new will pop up. Who knows? Maybe this chilly break can give you the time of your life!

Ingredients4 large egg whites1/2 teaspoon cream of tartar1 cup superfine (caster) white sugar1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract

Strawberry Whipped Cream1 cup heavy whipping cream1/2 teaspoon pure vanilla extract1 tablespoon granulated white sugar1/2 cup (120 ml) lightly sweetened strawberry puree or jamFresh Berries

Fiction Section

Curtain Closed By Rachel Lau

Previously on Curtain Closed:

Seth, an apt dancer, skipped rehearsal at his dad’s theatre one day only to discover that his choreographer had been murdered with a knife during his absence. Oddly enough, the weeks of detective work afterwards turned up no other evidence. Business had to continue in spite of the ordeal. Seth decided that he ought to push himself harder. He returned home after another day of rehearsals.

Chapter 5: The Telepathy

Seth helped with dishes after dinner, scrub-bing, rinsing and toweling them off. Then, he went up to his room to lounge and maybe read. But, when he entered the room, he heard a sound echoing, echoing, echoing… It sounded like a screech, an animal’s screech…a monkey’s screech. But, no, how can that be possible? There aren’t any monkeys in New York. Seth thought absentmindedly. Another screech pierced the air, then, insistent tapping started up. Seth shook his head. Grabbing his jacket, he de-cided to go out onto the roof to get some fresh air—maybe the stuffiness was getting to his head. Running out onto the roof, Seth gazed out on the New York skyline, watching the lights blinking like a million tiny stars. Tak-ing deep breaths, he walked back and forth, letting his mind go blank. After pacing for a while, Seth felt the summer air getting cooler

and trudged back into his room. He turned to his shelf and noticed his birdcage, old and rusty. The more peculiar thing about the cage was the furry lump curled up in a ball inside the birdcage. As he stared though the bars, Seth remembered Quack, his once best friend.

Quack was a special kind of bird—a love-bird. Seth used to talk to him a lot. Quach was his audition practice and script memoriz-ing partner. He left a year ago while Seth was replenishing his food bowl one night. Quack had simply flown away… But wait, Seth remembered something else, something strange… Something about a conversation it happened. Seth thought hard. He had just learned in school that lovebirds live longer in the wild, and had been ponder-ing whether he should let Quack go. He had been thinking, Quack, would you live longer in the wild? Would you be happier? You would have to worry about cats and shelter. I guess you would probably go to Central Park or somewhere like that. He had been pouring bird feed and it was overflowing over the bowl because he was so deep in thought. Suddenly, he heard a whistling from Quack. Quack loved to whistle the tunes he heard from Seth. Then, out of the blue, Seth heard a voice in his head, in a high trill. Goodbye, Seth, thanks for taking care of me! I will survive, I will! Then, Seth watched as Quack unfolded his white wings, and took off into the night. Seth had started crying,

worrying for his little pet lovebird. Now that Seth looked back on it, he felt a tinge of happiness for Quack. He will survive. He promised. Seth thought.

His conversation with Quack had been his first encounter with telepathy. He had tried research it, learning more about this odd power. Seth knew that he could use it to control peo-ple—tell them what to do whether it be moving aside or letting him have his desired part in a musical. But he felt guilty for it took away their choices in the matter. Telepathy had changed him. Seth felt alone and different, so he withdrew from others and became more distant from his family. He kept this a secret, afraid that people would find him freakish.

Seth shook his head. He had to focus on the present, and currently, there was a furry lump sleeping in the middle of the old birdcage. Tip-toeing forward, Seth noticed that the circle of fur had a head that curled in perfectly with the body, forming a perfect oval. When Seth bent forward to take a closer look, he saw that it was a small, black, monkey.

Chapter 6: The Monkey Named Aeron

A monkey in the middle of New York, how was that possible? “Why are you here?” Seth muttered, “What do you want?” The monkey’s eyelids flickered, as if waking from a deep sleep but, they did not open. Seth, on pure impulse, realized that he might be the reason the monkey had come into his room. Perhaps he had considered about having a monkey-like companion—someone he could share and fight with. Thinking he was crazy, Seth gave his power a try, What do you want? Who are you? The monkey’s eyelids fluttered strongly and opened. Big black eyes stared back at him. The monkey seemed just as surprised as he was. Are you Seth? I am Aeron. Seth was startled, unused to having another voice in his head. You are Seth Normeth the Dirtier and I am Aeron the Monkey. Aeron announced. Seth had a headache, from both the words and the shock. But, he decided to keep conversing. Yes, I am Seth, but why do I have the title of “the Dirtier”? Because all of you are Dirtiers. You swarm and pave over the entire world. You dirty the land. Aeron explained. All of us? Dirty the land? What do you…Then, it clicked—Seth realized that Aeron was referring to humans. Um…Okay, but, you are a monkey. How am I talking to you? Seth asked skeptically. You are talking in Monkey, not the Dirtier language. We are talking in Monkey. Aeron cried. Oh. Seth replied. This was too much, he knew that he could in-fluence people but he didn’t know he could do so much as communicate with a monkey. What was happening? Was he becoming delusional?

To be continued...

City of Bellevue - Youth Link. PO Box 90012, Bellevue WA 90012 - Tel: 425-452-5254

Confessions of a Gossamer Girl

The scribbles in my workbook are not notes or equations, but whimsical, dis-proportionate doodles and implausible stories with happy endings I tell myself to keep entertained. One such idea now pops into my head, and I hurriedly jot it down in an undecipherable scrawl. When I am satisfied with the result, I deftly twirl my pencil around practiced fingers and fix my eyes on the clock.

It is 12:45 in the afternoon, and sixth period has begun.

It is a combination of the post-lunch contented drowsiness, the soporific lec-tures, and the gentle afternoon heat that makes physics the sleepiest hour of the day. We are like a class of lem-mings as one by one, we give ourselves to the unpadded but inviting pillows of our thin black desks while the drone of Ms. Dorrance’s voice lulls us to blissful daydreams.

Most days, I am part of that weak-willed group. Today, however, I resist those urges. Today, I am an observer of numerous pairs of drooping lids and resiliently bobbing heads. But my favored subject for examination is, as always, Alan Simons.

He’s chosen to wear a button-up plaid shirt with washed-out colors. A staple of his closet, dress-shirts are his preferred style of clothing, and he puts one on almost every single morning. He thinks they make him look sharp—“business casual,” he calls it—though others label

him a prep and try-hard.

His natural hair color is a ferocious shade of red, but he dyed it crow black one un-extraordinary, rainy Seattle day. I often wonder whether he did it on a dare, or as a symbol of individuality, or possibly to rebel against his too-stern parents. I like the last explanation the best, because it seems to bring him a little closer to me. In my mind, I make a promise to myself to ask him after class, when he will be alone and refreshed from his well-deserved nap.

But when the bell rings, awakening him and rows of other eye-rubbing students, I instead let out an imperceptible sigh and resign myself to ignorance, because I’ll probably never pluck up the courage to talk to him, and he’d never seek me out himself. He keeps to his circle of friends, and doesn’t have the time for a fanciful girl like me.

In all honesty, I am afraid to approach him, to intrude into the cool nimbus of apathy that surrounds him even when he is only one of a crowd. For Alan Simons stands under an umbrella of distant calm, a shield from the common rainwa-ter troubles of less self-assured people. It would take a violent gust, not a gentle zephyr, to unsettle that quietly indomitable boy sitting across from me, during the sleepiest hour of the day.

I scribble away his story, and mine, and tuck it away in the secret recesses of my heart.

By Bonnie Pan

Staff 2011-2012

Editor-in-Chief Lucinda Li

Layout: Lucinda LiJulia LiuMaggie Locke

Journalists: Grace ChaiEmily JiangSooil KimNoelle KolaRachel LauLucinda LiJulia LiuMaggie LockeCody NgBonnie PanAlisha SaxenaAlex TangRichard Tsai

City of Bellevue Staff:Helena StephensFamily Youth & Teen Ser-viceshstephens@bellevuewa.gov Patrick AlinaYouth Link CoordinatorOutspoken Advisorpalina@bellevuewa.gov

Gunilla RoslanderYouth Link Volunteerroslagun@gmail.com

To learn more about our Youth Link Program,

please visit our web site at www.youthlink.com or call

our office at (425) 452-5254.

City of Bellevue - Youth Link. PO Box 90012, Bellevue WA 90012 - Tel: 425-452-5254

Youth Connection is an extension of Bellevue Youth Link, a youth leadership program that strives to give youth an active voice in the community and an opportunity to make a differ-ence! Youth Connection articles and issues are also published on Bellevue Patch at http://bellevue.patch.com/columns/youth-connection.

More about Bellevue Youth Link

Bellevue Youth Link is sponsored by the City of Bellevue, Parks & Community Service Department, WA, USA, and Bel-levue Public Schools. Youth Link consists of the Youth Board, the Youth Council, and nine Action Teams and Planning Com-mittees. The Youth Link Board advises the Bellevue City Council and City Manager on youth matters and programs. The Youth Council is the main organizational body of Bellevue Youth Link which meets twice a month to plan various community proj-ects. The council meets to discuss current and future Youth Link projects, hear updates from action teams, and share local events in schools and the community. The council also hears

About Youth Connection

presentations from guest speakers about events in the community and local government and is responsible for planning monthly service projects. Projects started by Youth Link include Ground Zero Teen Center, Skate Park, Teen Talk Radio Program, Safe Rides Program, Com-munity Leadership Awards, Youth Involvement Conference, Bellevue Youth Court and more. Becoming a part of Youth Link is easy! All youth in the area are welcome to join. Sim-ply fill out an application form (http://www.youthlink.com/forms.html) and get in touch with Patrick Alina at palina@bellevuewa.gov.