The San Marcos Youth Commission will hold its first meeting Wednesday at 6 p.m. at the San Marcos Activity Center.

The commission is composed of 15 children and students throughout the city who will advise city officials and policy makers on issues affecting young people.

“Our primary goal for the youth commission is to instill a passion for civic and community engagement among our youngest future leaders,” said Dr. Michelle Hamilton, chair of the San Marcos Commission on Children & Youth, in a news release. “This group of high school ambassadors will connect the voice and concerns of youth in San Marcos to the city of San Marcos. In addition, the youth commission will focus [its] time and energy on a social issue they would like to collectively impact throughout the next year.”

The commission’s voting members include four San Marcos High School students; one San Marcos Academy student; one student from a private or charter school; one home-schooled student; one student from outside the city limits but inside SMCISD boundaries; one Texas State University student; one Gary Job Corps student; one Phoenix Academy student; and four other at-large youth members.

The commission may also have self-selected nonvoting members who can participate in projects or committees, according to the news release.

Creation of the youth commission was included as a goal in the city’s Youth Master Plan, which City Council approved in 2013. The commission will have the freedom to choose which issues it addresses, staff liaison Jessica Ramos said.

“Our first meeting will be talking about how they feel as the youth in our community,” Ramos said. “We’re going to have some brainstorming sessions where they’ll talk about what they feel the issues are. We want them to come up with what they think the issues are.”