Jacob Smith
Goshen High School senior and youth advisor to the Goshen Parks and Recreation Board
It’s important to be a servant to your community. Parks provide a space for people to interact and meet with each other. They’re great spaces, and I think it’s important they’re kept maintained.
I’m a non-voting member of the Goshen Parks and Recreation Board. It’s been really fascinating for me to learn. I was voted in by my high school peers. I was one of four people running for four positions. I ended up choosing the parks board position because I grew up near Pringle Park and I went there a lot of the time with my family. We’d go on bike rides on the Maple City Greenway, the Pumpkinvine. I’ve been to a lot of events there. I’ve known the parks pretty well, and they’ve really served the community well. That’s how I feel I can serve the best.
I’m part of the wind ensemble, the advanced Crimson Jazz Band, the symphonic orchestra. I participate in ISSMA every year. My mom taught me how to play piano when I was very young, so I play piano in the jazz band. I also play euphonium and trombone.
The Goshen band program is definitely a solid program. We’ve got lots of good leaders. Mr. Cox and Mr. Kaufman are our directors. What’s so great about it is it’s bringing a diverse group of people from different backgrounds together just to play music, and we’ve done it very well.
I’m a mentor in the baritone section in the marching band. This is my last year in marching band out of my four years. I’ve learned a lot about leadership. It takes discipline, it takes time management, teamwork. I’ve had many great friendships built there. That’s part of what I do, just bring together a group. The baritone section is a group of about 20 people, freshmen through seniors, all together, different backgrounds. We just go out to the marching band field and play music and we play it well.
We’ve got good values in Goshen. We’re hard-working people, for sure. Some people call it flyover country. Not me. I just love our community. Everyone’s out to help each other. Everyone’s very friendly. It’s a very diverse place, and it’s great that if we have any differences, we can put those aside and get big things done together in the community. That’s what I really like about it.
Writing and editing by Scott Weisser and Neil King
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