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BACKGROUND On November 17, 1998, the City Council approved the Civic Arts Commission's recommendation to create the position of Pleasanton Poet Laureate. The primary role of the Poet Laureate is to provide appropriate poetry at civic events, and promote the appreciation of the literary arts in the community. These individuals have established a wonderful tradition of poetry readings in the City of Pleasanton, while using their unique styles to develop new programs for the community. Some of these programs include television broadcasts and the establishment of the Poetry, Prose and Arts Festival. In 2001 , the City's Poet Laureate Program also won an award from the National Conference of Mayors. Past Poet Laureates include: • Charlene Villella (1999 — 2001) • Jim Ott (2001 — 2003) • Kirk Ridgeway (2003 — 2005) • Cynthia Bryant (2005 — 2007) • Martha Meltzer (2007 — 2009) • Deborah Grossman (2009 — 2011 ) • Cynthia Bryant (2011-2012) • Sandra Harrison Kay (2013 - 2015) In August 2012, the City started the formal process to recruit and officially appoint a Teen Poet Laureate. In January 2013, the first two students, one from Amador Valley High School and one from Foothill High School, were appointed to serve as the City's Teen Poet Laureates for the remaining duration of the 2012/2013 school year. Past Teen Poet Laureates include: • Arany Uthayakumar (2012-2013) • Diana Fu (2012-2013) & (2013-2014) • Nive Raghavan (2013-2014) • Nicole Tsuno (2014-2015) • Maya Lyubomirsky (2014-2015) • Frances Tang (2015-2016) • Kyler Juarez (2015-2016 and 2016-2017) • Kyle Mular (2016-2017) • Irene Sha (2016-2017 and 2017-2018) • Nithya Swaminathan (2016-2017 and 2017-2018) • Yasmin Ghaemmaghani (2017-2018) • Varsha Vaidyanath (2017-2018) Recruitment for the Teen Poet Laureate position for the 2018/2019 school year began this past spring. As part of the process, the City established a Teen Poet Laureate Page 2 of 3