What started as a small discussion during the 2014 municipal election, has turned into a valuable position for Portage's city Council. That's the feeling of Mayor Irvine Ferris, following Youth Councillor's final Council meeting in the position. Donnovan Hillman was named Portage's youth councillor in February 2015, the first time a youth has been able to have a seat at the Council table in the city. After serving his first term, Council decided to extend Hillman's term as he was only in the position for a few months.

During Hillman's final meeting as a youth councillor, Ferris presented him with a plaque to recognize his hard work over the past year. Ferris notes they're thrilled with just how engaged Hillman was in the role, and how seriously he took the position.

"We had nothing previous to measure this against. The person selected in October will have big shoes to fill, but at the same time, they'll have a bit of a template and some ideas of things he did they can try also. I think he's created a lot of interest from other students that are younger in the position."

Ferris says Hillman's work in the role showed that having a youth city councillor wasn't only viable, but extremely valuable in providing a youth perspective and focus. When the topic of a youth councillor was first introduced, Ferris was a strong supporter of the move, while other mayoral candidates didn't feel it was appropriate. Even as a support of the cause, Ferris admits he never expected to see such success with the creation of the role.

"To be quite candid, I didn't expect this. Teenagers are busy people, they go to school, most of them work part time, they have family lives and social lives, and they're involved in athletics. To get this kind of commitment, we were very, very pleasantly surprised."

Hillman is now preparing to start university, where he'll be pursuing a career in business.