Our School

The Mayoral Youth Advisory Committee (MYAC) consists of a group of high school students from Waterbury, Connecticut who work with the mayor to identify and address issues facing the city's youth. Established by Mayor Paul Pernerewski ’79, the committee aims to increase youth involvement in local government. The MYAC works with the mayor to identify issues facing the city's youth, develops potential solutions to address those issues and provides opportunities for the youth of Waterbury. Mayor Pernerewski leads the discussion, and the committee follows an agenda.

Twenty-seven students from all Waterbury high schools – Crosby, Kennedy, Wilby, Waterbury Career Academy and Kaynor – participate on the MYAC. Danei Pittman ’27, Devin Cavanaugh ’27, Antonella Livolsi ’26, Leah Brenneman ’27 and Aiden Nelson ’27 represent Holy Cross High School.

All students met with the Mayor’s Office prior to being chosen to be on MYAC. They were asked to write a short essay about why they wanted to be involved and what would they do if they were accepted.

“At our last meeting, we were separated into groups with kids from different schools,” said Aiden. “It was interesting to hear about how different their schools are from Holy Cross, especially since Holy Cross is a college preparatory school. It's eye-opening to learn about the variety of experiences everyone is going through.”

For Danei and Leah, this was a chance to use their outgoing personalities to meet new people and learn about their experiences in school from school quarter setups to public safety. “I really wanted to be a voice for the people who are too scared to have one,” said Leah.

“(Students from all the other schools) want to collaborate on creating a garden downtown to bring more life to that area,” said Danei. “We want to bring more community involvement. It still feels a little separated because of the COVID-19 pandemic.”

Regarding the community garden, Leah added, “Since we already do a lot of that stuff here during our community service days, we were able to give informed suggestions.”

The committee meets during the school year, but it stops in the summer and picks back up when school starts again in the fall. Over that time, participants will develop skills in leadership, organization and public speaking.

“I’ve learned a lot about things I never thought about as much,” said Danei. “All the students are bringing great ideas based on their experiences. We have brainstormed a lot of great ideas to make the city a better and safer place.”