Rocco Brown is a busy kid.

The 16-year-old Riverview junior is president of the school’s prom committee, president of French club, treasurer for student council, treasurer for his school’s key club, a member of the inclusive leaders club and a member of the National Honor Society.

He recently added Oakmont Council Youth Representative to his resume.

Brown was among a group of Riverview students to apply for the council’s first-ever youth representative position. The program was initially pitched in October by council member Amanda Pagnotta.

“After looking at some boroughs and municipalities around us, we started to develop a (youth representative) program,” Pagnotta said. “We went through an application process, chose to interview some students and after a wonderful interview, we met with Rocco Brown.”

Pagnotta and council member Jennifer Paris led the interview and selection process for the position.

“Rocco brings a lot of really great, fresh ideas about getting involved with students and getting the community excited about projects,” Pagnotta said.

Brown said his passion for community service attracted him to the role.

“These clubs already do a lot of service projects,” Brown said. “I thought with this position, I’d be able to make more service opportunities happen more. I also want to kind of bridge the gap between the community and the school.”

As a youth representative, Brown will be attending the council’s monthly voting meetings to share thoughts and update members on events at the school district.

He’s also a member of the borough’s communications committee. Brown will be learning how to efficiently spread the word about upcoming community events and updates. He’ll be working with the borough’s social media accounts and website announcements.

“My goal for (the committee) is to see how we can market this better,” Brown said. “How can we make sure everybody in the community is getting these messages?”

Brown remains undaunted with the new duties. He said leadership — and Oakmont — are in his blood.

His great grandmother, Adeline Brown, was borough manager in 1966. She was the only female municipal manager in Pennsylvania at the time and one of only three in the United States. His mother, Lindsay Osterhout, served on council until March of 2023.

“Seeing them, I’m inspired to continue that legacy,” he said.

As Brown and borough council members move through 2025, they will be collaborating to build a sustainable student representative program.

“Hopefully, I can grow this program and I’m not the last student to do this,” Brown said.

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