City of St. Louis Park playground junior leaders were recognized Aug. 7 by the St. Louis Park City Council for their service to the community this summer. These 41 youth volunteers contributed more than 1,500 hours of service to the city. Playground junior leaders are in grades 7 – 9 and helped full-time playground leaders with more than 1,000 youth ages 4 – 12 enrolled in summer playground programs at 12 sites in June and July. Along with playground staff, junior leaders play a key role in providing a positive experience for program participants. In addition to being recognized by the city council, the junior leaders received a letter of recommendation and passes to The Rec Center ice arena and Aquatic Park.

Playground junior leaders pictured: (left to right, back row) Palmer Thompson, Eli Stengl, Hannora Crouse, Erin Eichten, Arjuna Murugesan, Avi Nieves, Celestino Pascual, Cooper Richardson, Skye Richardson, Brady Rueben and (left to right, front row) Pacey Angier, Liam Bardzinski, Gia Hackey, Asha Murugesan, June Zilka, Tobias Nelsen

Not pictured: Niyome Colvin, Lauren Culp, Tess Culp, Clara Ekkers, Asha Ferran, Philip Gerlach, Madeline Juul, Charlie Kanne, Isaac Katter, Rilen Klingenberg Krizik, Gigi Krueger, Catherine Kotowski, Iris Larson, Julian Lukas, Avery Luoma, Leo Miller, Liam Muzzio, Adelina Ramirez, Sylvie Richardson, Benny Ruzek, Finn Shepherd, Luke Shepherd, Merrick Tasto, Mary Thornton, Lily Vanderpoel