The Pinedale Town Council welcomes its newest member, Casey Terrell, a 17-year-old Pinedale High School senior. Terrell is the first student to sit on the council as a junior member — the position was established in an effort to link the school body to town affairs.

“It’s cool that we’re providing a voice for the students,” said High School Principal Barbara Leiseth. “Kids have a lot to share and they don’t always have a forum to share it, so Casey is going to be the liaison between the school and the community.”

Terrell is happy to represent the high school students and thinks there needs to be better communication between the town and school.

“We should all work together as a community,” he said.

Interested junior council member applicants were interviewed on Oct. 12 by Mayor Stephen Smith, Councilwoman Nylla Kunard and Mary Hogarty, the mayor’s assistant. Terrell was picked and began serving on the council at the Oct. 26 meeting.

Mariah Strike, a junior, was chosen as an alternate, in case Terrell cannot fulfill his duties or make it to a council meeting.

“That’s the benefit of having two,” said Hogarty.

“One of us will always be there,” Strike added.

Strike is excited to contribute to the council as well.

“I’m definitely glad I got it. I think it’s going to be really interesting and I hope next year I can go on and take Casey’s spot,” she said.

Leiseth said she thought it was great Strike was getting involved with the town council as a junior to gain some experience before possibly stepping into the main position next year.

“It’s a good transition position,” said Leiseth.

And like Terrell, Strike wants to create a stronger relationship between students and the town.

“I want to set up a bridge between the school and the council,” she said.

Terrell nearly missed his chance at being junior council member, however, because the week before the application deadline he was out of school sick. He returned to school the day of the deadline and said he sat in his government class hand-writing his application essay mere hours before it was due. He admits he cut it close.

But with his experience and interest in government and a long list of extracurricular activities, it’s easy to see why Terrell was the man picked for the job.

Terrell said he has always been interested in government.

“I thought it was a cool institution,” he said.

And this past summer he had the chance to get a taste of how our democratic system operates by attending Boy’s State — a weeklong American Legion program held in Douglas, Wyo. where high school boys act out a mock government and recreate the various branches from the Senate down to town councils.

Terrell was chosen to attend Boy’s State as one of two representatives from Pinedale. There, he acted as Senate Chaplain and a state liquor commissioner. He was also one of four boys chosen out of approximately 100 as an “outstanding citizen.”

He said the experience encouraged him to become more involved with government.

“That kind of sparked my interest again,” he said.

To prepare for Boy’s State, Terrell attended the Southwest Junior Legislature in Rock Springs last year for two days with his current high school government teacher Deena Martin. Terrell said it was Martin who told him about the junior council member opportunity.

Terrell said he is also enjoying taking his government class because he is learning a lot about the history of our modern government. And while he said the majority of his personal political opinions formed before taking the class, the more he learns and the more the country and town changes, his opinions change as well.

Terrell thinks the most important, pressing issue in Pinedale is the rapid population growth.

“Just being my age and seeing it in high school and seeing the influx of people that we’ve gotten and how our community grows, changes and deals with that,” he explained.

On a larger, national level, Terrell said the unstable economy is the issue he is most concerned with.

“The economy really worries me because it affects everything. If we have a weak economy then it makes our foreign policy not as strong. And I also think with a weak economy we face more problems here at home — where before we would unite with money troubles, now everybody looks out more for themselves then for the country,” he said.

However, on the local level Terrell said there are a lot of issues that effect students and he wants more of them to attend the council meetings and voice their opinions.

“I think a lot of decision made there (at meetings) affect them all,” he said.

For example, he said last meeting the council discussed current construction projects going on throughout town and those affect everyone, even the students.

“The kids don’t realize that the construction they have to drive through, they can have their own opinion about it and have them heard if they just show up to the meetings,” he said.

For those who don’t come to the council meetings, Terrell and Strike plan to report back to the school on what was discussed or decided upon. Terrell said he plans to possibly give briefs over the school intercom or post reports on the school’s bulletin boards or Web site.

Terrell also said he would like to hold office hours “just like Senators do” in the high school library for an hour after school twice a month to give students the opportunity to meet with him and express their concerns.

However, Terrell also wants students to be comfortable talking to him anytime.

“I think if someone has a concern outside of my office hours they can just approach me and be like ‘Hey Casey, this is how I feel,’” he said.

Students should have that opportunity often since Terrell spends a lot of his time at the school for all his extracurricular activities.

Throughout his high school career, Terrell has been involved in number of high school groups including FFA, Students Against Destructive Decisions (SADD), the Drama Club and Student Council. The list goes on.

“It’s a very impressive resume,” Leiseth said.

Terrell also served on the hiring committee that selected Leiseth as the new principal this year.

“He asked some really good questions,” Leiseth said.

Terrell also just finished up his seventh year of playing on Pinedale football teams. He played the offensive line position of left guard for the high school team that wrapped up its season last week. He was also first attendant on this year’s Homecoming Court.

However, the school band is what Terrell has been involved in the longest, playing the trombone every year since fifth grade.

He played in the high school pep, concert and jazz bands. He won solo awards during sophomore and junior years.

“That kind of got me hooked,” he said. “I was like, maybe I should keep going with this thing.”

He also started taking drum lessons last year and music theory classes at the high school. He said learning music is a lot deeper than he ever thought it was.

“The more I get into it, it’s not sounds, it’s more of a language,” he said.

Music is something Terrell is considering studying in college. However, he is also considering a career in agriculture because he learned a lot about it from his father who used to teach the subject at the school.

“It was just introduced to me that I could make a really good career in something like agriculture,” he said.

But whatever he decides to study and have a career in, Terrell said he just wants to be happy.

“To be honest I’m just looking to find something that I really enjoy doing,” he said.

Also, Terrell said he wants to always contribute to his community.

“It’s kind of every American’s right, or responsibility,” he said.

While Terrell realizes his new position comes with responsibility, he isn’t nervous or feeling too much pressure.

“I don’t get too flustered,” he said as he leaned back in Leiseth’s big leather swivel chair behind the principal’s desk.

Terrell said with his new position he would just like to gain more governmental experience, figure out the system and grow in it.

“It’s just like music,” he said. “I think there is a lot more to it then what’s just on the surface.”