A Kewanee High School student was chosen to join the Illinois Council on Women and Girls Committee. Petra Petty was one of 19 teenagers selected to serve on the Committee. Petra Petty is a 17-year-old student at Kewanee High School, who has gained community support in her efforts to make all Kewanee District #229 facilities handicap accessible. Petra Petty told RegionalMediaNews “I’m very honored for this opportunity and excited! This is a step forward in me being an activist and making change that will benefit girls in the state”. The Illinois Council on Women and Girls is chaired by Illinois Lt. Governor, Julianna Stratton, who advises Governor JB Pritzker and the General Assembly on policy issues impacting women and girls in Illinois. Seats are open to non-binary and female (trans and cis) Illinois students in grades ninth through twelfth.
Members will serve a one-year term on the Council. The Girls Committee may meet biweekly, typically after school hours, when planning for upcoming events and projects. They will also attend one-hour quarterly meetings for one of the other Council committees (Gender-based Violence, Academic and Economic Opportunity, Leadership and Inclusion, or Health) and one-hour quarterly meetings of the entire Council, typically held 4-5 PM during the work week. Girls Committee meetings will begin in December 2022. Virtual participation is also available at all Council and committee meetings.
Students had to fill out an application to be considered for the Girls Committee which was due in October. The application also required a video submission in response to one of the questions. The panel was composed of current Council members to evaluate applications based on their diversity, interest, responsibility, communication, collaboration, and problem-solving and then invited the selected applicants to be interviewed.
