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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 was to provide poetry at civic events and promote the appreciation of the literary arts in the community. Those individuals established a tradition of Poetry readings and created new literary programs for the community. In August 2012, the City began a formal process to recruit and appoint a Teen Poet Laureate to expand poetry and literary arts to youth in Pleasanton. 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 first Teen Poet Laureates for the 2012/2013 school year. Past Pleasanton 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) • Sandra Chen (2018-2019) DISCUSSION Library and Recreation staff began the recruitment process for the 2019/2020 Teen Poet Laureate in June 2019. A flyer and press release were created and shared. Incoming high school juniors and seniors who enjoy writing, inspiring others and have interest in contributing to their community were encouraged to apply. A Teen Poet Laureate selection committee comprised of community members and city staff reviewed submitted materials, interviewed seven candidates, and recommended Kanchan Naik from Quarry Lane School as the 2019/2020 Teen Poet Laureate. Kanchan is a Pleasanton teen who is actively involved in the City. She writes for Ptown Page 2 of 3