PRESS RELEASE

December 8, 2008                                                          CONTACT:  Chris Ismil, Program Coordinator

                                                               Iron Range Youth in Action

                                                                                                                           Virginia, MN 218-780-5655

For Immediate Release:

St. Louis County’s “Iron Range Youth in Action” to

be Spotlighted at AMC Conference

St. Louis County has a great opportunity to showcase one of the most successful youth organizations in the state of Minnesota this week. The program will be spotlighted as over 600 county elected officials and policy makers gather in Duluth for the 100 Anniversary of the Association of Minnesota Counties (AMC) annual conference. In addition to explaining the success of this youth engagement program, students from the Iron Range Youth in Action (IRYA) will be assisting attendees at the conference held from December 8th through 10th at the DECC in Duluth. Iron Range Youth in Action is a St. Louis County Extension youth leadership program for students ages 14 to 18. IRYA is offered in fifteen (15) schools and thirty-five (35) communities throughout Northern St. Louis County.

Former 6^th District St. Louis County Commissioner Liz Prebich and the PARTNERS Board, consisting of elected officials from Iron Range cities and school districts, created Iron Range Youth in Action in 1996. Commissioner Prebich had a vision of hundreds of youth spreading across Northeastern St. Louis County working in their communities, volunteering on a very large scale, and raising their voices in public policy debates and civic engagement. Today, that vision is realized with IRYA’s many projects and programs operating in northern St. Louis County.

For more information contact the IRYA website: www.irya.org or the IRYA Office at

218-749-7114 or 218-780-5655.

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