Sims joins FMPC as youth rep
Farragut Municipal Planning Commission is starting a new fiscal year with new youth representative Hayley Sims.
“I’m excited about it,” said Sims, a Farragut High School rising senior.
Commissioners chose her out of eight Farragut students vying for the position during their Thursday, June 16, meeting.
“I hope to be an urban planner, so I hope to understand the job a little bit more and see if I like it,” she said.
“As a high school student, I think I understand my age group and what we need,” Sims added.
In her application, Sims told FMPC: “I may be only 17 years old, but I have been fortunate enough to live overseas in England for five years, as well as Panama, Florida, for 10 years. … Today I feel as though those experiences have given me great insight into how various communities appeal to residents and families.”
The idea to be an urban planner started when she lived around Panama City, Florida.
“I didn’t like how the billboards and colorful buildings were such an eyesore to look at,” Sims recalled. “... I really wanted to incorporate my job to make the community look better and more environmentally friendly.”
Her family left Florida and moved to Oxford, England, before moving to Farragut two years ago.
Sims, daughter of Annabel and the late Jeffrey Sims, obtained her OSHA certificate during her sophomore year, the same school year when she became an ambassador for National Hope program.
Looking ahead, she wants to attend the University of Washington, Seattle, and major in urban planning. “I love how environmentally friendly (UW) is,” she said.
Other students who applied to be the youth representative were Robert Terry III, a Christian Academy of Knoxville home-schooled rising junior and Olivia Squires, a CAK rising senior, and FHS rising juniors, Elaina Conger, Leo Davis, Rahim Rasheed, Anusha Anil, and Ananya Suresh.
