On Aug. 5, 2021, Senior Maya Santos pulled into the Downers Grove Police Department to attend the Downers Grove Regional Peer Jury swearing-in ceremony. After walking into the courtroom, Santos grabbed her mandatory black polo shirt that is assigned to every student in the program. Along with Santos, there sat four other peer jurors from DGS and 30 jurors from District 99, all prepared to take their assigned monthly cases for the 2021-22 year.

“I honestly decided to do peer jury on a whim because a teacher emailed the application to me, but I’m really glad I chose to do it,” Santos said.

Peer jury requires each applicant to fill out a form and interview to see if they are a good fit. The jury, composed of highschool student volunteers, provides the first-time juvenile offenders of non-serious offenses consequences to account for their own behavior. As a whole, the jury’s main purpose is to attempt to understand the offender’s motives and craft a solution to repair the offenses.

“I didn’t know much about it at first, I just knew it was to help the community, so I signed up… I think peer jury is important because it doesn’t punish kids for minor offenses and instead tries to help them make better decisions in the future,” Santos said.

Co-sponsor of DGS Politics Club, and one of the DGS Social Studies teachers, Tracy Culcasi has nominated multiple past students to this program.

“The idea behind it is to really try to keep students who have gotten in trouble from having to go into the official Juvenile Justice System, and to try to use (peer jury) as more of a learning experience,” Culcasi said.

As of now, Santos and the other jury members meet two to three hours a month to attend peer jury hearings. Training Coordinator Zarine Erdman is one of the main coordinators for Downers Grove Regional Peer Jury.

“Peer jurors sign an oath of confidentiality and are required to remove themselves (from any case) in which they know or could know the offender… All juveniles appearing before the peer jury are treated with dignity and respect,” Erdman said.

Peer jurors are limited, divided by the population percentage of the districts that the student resides in. The districts include: Burr Ridge, Clarendon Hills, Darien, Downers Grove, Hinsdale, Oak Brook, & Willowbrook. The program was limited to no jurors in 2017 till 2018.

“The Downers Grove Township operated the peer jury program for 17 years before eliminating the program in July 2017 because of funding issues. In 2018, the Village Council directed staff to operate a peer jury program again,” Erdman said.

As the school year progresses, Santos is planning on continuing participating in Downers Grove Regional Peer Jury.