King HS Student Leaders Develop Civic & Cultural Awareness at the Yolo County Youth Empowerment Summit

 

Civic & Cultural Awareness

 

King Students at empowerment summit

Young student leaders from King High were able to develop their citizenship skills, learn more about their civic duty, and connect with changemakers in our community at the recent Yolo County Youth Empowerment Summit (YES!). Accompanied by their counselor, Luna Flynn, and support staff, Lilia Rosales Carbajal, our King students had the opportunity to increase their understanding of the responsibilities they hold as contributing individuals in a diverse society. They learned about how their local government operates in a session called Local Government 101, participated in a mock voting ballot, and engaged with community members and resources.

The event allowed for students to engage with a wide variety of individuals and organizations.
Students participated in roundtable discussions with elected and appointed officials in our community including the Mayor of Davis, Bapu Vaitla and his colleagues, and DJUSD Board of Education Trustee, Cecelia Escamilla-Greenwald. Over 100 students from 8 local high schools were present, allowing students to share and hear wide-ranging experiences from across the county. Through this perspective sharing and active listening, students developed their ability to recognize and respect the differences in values that may exist between themselves and people from other countries or from varying social and cultural backgrounds, and how the government plays a role in addressing the needs of all of its constituents.

We are proud of the King students for being wonderful representatives of DJUSD's values, and were so excited to see their engagement in becoming young leaders! We are glad they took advantage of this opportunity to help them become more confident and prepared for life beyond high school.

For more information about YES!, check out this link: https://yolosaysyes.com/

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"Our students excelled at representing King and our district as a whole at this event. They were engaged, excited, and were able to leave the summit with a new found appreciation for their potential as our leaders of tomorrow. Being able to connect with these various resources and officials helped showcase to our students how many possibilities there are and helped them feel even more empowered to pursue their goals." - Luna Flynn, School Counselor

"Our King students did an amazing job representing our district at the event! They asked questions on resources available to them and interacted with active officials in the community. This opportunity provided them a great foundation for support in their future." - Lilia Rosales Carbajal, Paraeducator

"The "YES" seminar was refreshingly insightful for students and very receptive to our ideas. It felt like input was welcome and encouraged which is not something students often get to feel." Ayden Quadri, Senior

"The "YES" Event was very interesting, exciting, and we got to engage in different opportunities. My favorite parts of the event were meeting elected and appointed officials at the round table discussion, learning how to vote and completing a mock election, and getting to interact and connect with community resources. I learned things that I would never have had the opportunity to learn if I had not gone to this event, and if I wasn't a senior, I would be attending this event again next year. It's hard as a teenager to get a job, so some of the resources that looked interesting were youth employment and job opportunities in the community. I was also able to connect with community groups, such as the Sac LGBT center and everyone was very nice. This event encouraged me to go out of my comfort zone and speak to people we never would have talked to. I was able to speak to Ceclia E.G. from the DJUSD Board of Education and speaking to her was very refreshing and made me feel special, comfortable, safe, heard, and understood. 10/10 must try again!!!" -Briannah Hegwood, Senior