The city of Selma installed a new position in February amidst a hiring freeze in hopes of bettering Selma’s youth and increasing the quality of life standards. On Thursday at the Selma City Council meeting, Kernard Randolph was introduced to the council as the new youth and senior coordinator.

A Selma native returning home, Randolph said he is glad to be back to serve a community he wants to give back to for his youth.

“Growing up here you know the culture, so you want to come back and see it get better. And that’s what I’m doing, coming back and giving back to something that I was a part of,” Randolph said, who told the council he was thrilled to come to work in youth development as a child who grew up in those city programs. “It’s a privilege to give back to my community to be able to build a part of Selma that has already been established. “

Randolph said he wants to not only build and enhance programs already within the city, but add enrichment activities for cultural, educational and recreational opportunities. He said while the city has baseball and soccer programs, he wants to bring things that the youth are not normally exposed to like archery and possibly flag football. He is also thinking about enrichment field trips for the students to out-of-state locations to show the students something new — even something like a Birmingham Baron’s game, he said, would be a fun activity to take youth to.

“He brings a level of energy that I think will be a tremendous addition to our city that will bring all the paths together for our youth program,” Selma Mayor George Evans said of Randolph to the council. The city, Evans said, had more than 40 applicants for the position and then narrowed the prospects to four when Randolph was chosen.

Randolph said he wants to be a part of development for the youth that they may not have had otherwise because of their backgrounds and circumstances. He said he wants to see the city’s youth become productive citizens, get employed and possibly pursue post-secondary education.

“I will be implementing a lot of things that will motivate our youth to strive and not just be lazy and lay around,” Randolph told the council Thursday. “We must do something to encourage them in a positive light.”