GONZALES YOUTH COUNCIL
CONE
THE NEW SEEDS ARE SPROUTING FOR
SPRING!
Fall Term Update | 2023 "If not us, who? If not now, when?" From Youth Commissioners: ACTION PROJECTS WE WILL
FOCUS ON FOR
"The transition from being a youth council 2023-24
member, to a youth commissioner, is so • Addiction Awareness/Drug Use surreal. We have enjoyed leading our
Prevention
youth council and watching our youth
ambassadors grow and become excellent • Housing/Tenant Rights leaders. We can only anticipate the next • Mental Health Action Projects couple of months that are on their way!" • Teen Innovation Center Development
• Beautification of Community
love
more
From Youth Ambassadors:
"Being Youth Ambassadors is such a fulfilling role to
us, as we are able to build a closer connection with
our community, but also create change and
advocate ideas that are of great passion to us. This
term has truly provided us with the sense of
responsibility and lots of leadership skills, that have come in hand during our meetings. We can't wait to
further develop and see our action projects come
to life, but also see the passionate, creative minds
within the council!"
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G OUR BIG 2010
202
UST
PHY
ARCELIN
GONZALEA
'22
GONZALE
YOUTH COUNCIL
•CARING - CONNECTING - LEARNING •
School Related Work
1. CLUB RUSH - Youth Ambassadors, along with Ms. Cindy and Ms. Jessica, hosted a stand at Gonzales High School's "Club Rush" in order to recruit members. It was an eventful day as we met different people and formed new connections.
2. RECRUITMENT - We are proud to announce that 19 members were officially recruited in September to be part of the 2023-2024 Gonzales Youth Council! They successfully finished an application, interview, and orientation! We are excited to see how we move forward with this new group of young leaders!
3. ADULT ALLIES - Youth Commissioners and Ambassadors met up with Dr.
Zamora to catch up on distinct subjects. Dr. Zamora gave several updates on the early college program, coming up events and improvements she plans on contributing to our school. During Our November 13th meeting, Principal Arredondo and Vice Principal, Mansfield, joined us in sharing insights regarding the issue of drug abuse in all three schools in our community. Both endorsed our new action projects and full on support us! We highly appreciate the support and look forward to working with the school!
Fall Term Update | 2023
Our Community Efforts
1. MENTAL HEALTH SUMMIT FORUM - In early October, Ambassador's Vianney and Valeria attended the Youth Summit at SUMB in a collaborative presentation regarding mental health with Dr. Lovell and her assistants! "It was so refreshing to listen to others speak openly about mental health, when it's usually a topic that is kept quiet" - Vianney Martinez Valdez, GYC Ambassador
2. GYC RECOGNITION - Ms. Celia and Mr. Daniel, from The Monterey County Weekly, were in charge of writing an incredible article featuring the Youth Council, along with other organizations that were influenced by the council. Below is linked the article, which we highly advise you to take a sneak peek at!
3. COLLABORATIONS & CONNECTIONS - The GYC met with Sun Street Centers and The Epicenter Representatives, as well as with Chief Muscio, to discuss their insights regarding prevention and drug usage, especially relating to the rising rates within Gonzales teens. This foundational information provided the GY with clear next steps centered around prevention and education for Gonzales High School students.
4. HOLIDAY LIGHTS - Sun Street Center volunteer students and GYC members collaborated in a stand during the Holiday Lights Event to inform the community and hand out free Narcan to the community.
Community Center Progress
1. GATHERING DATA FROM YOUTH - In October,
Otto Construction & WRNS Studio provided an
update regarding the Teen Innovation Center.
In this meeting the GYC helped shape the
details of the building (carpet, furniture, color of
walls, etc.). In September, Gonzales High School
students gave their opinion on infrastructure
and resources the Innovation Center should
provide. All of their input was incorporated by
design-build team in the update provided in
October.
2. CONNECTING WITH ADULT ALLIES - At the
meeting, members were able to have a
clear, communicative conversation with
Otto Construction Workers who are working
on the Innovation Center. Youth voices gave
helpful insight into how numerous spaces
should be created, and how the
appearance of the teen section should be.
Fall Term Update | 2023
What's Next?
As we get ready to close out our fall term and come back in January of 2024 for our spring term, we are laying down several foundations that we will quickly pick up in the new year.
MEETING WITH SOUTH COUNTY YOUTH COUNCILS - Although the date is still to be determined, Youth Commissioners, Luke and Aliyah, will be setting off to Greenfield to collaborate with South County Youth Councils (including Soledad Youth Council & Greenfield Youth Commissioners) in order to network and explore the idea of a youth summit. Maybe, this wave of influence could influence additional cities in Monterey County to create their own youth councils!
ADDICTION AWARENESS AND DRUG USE PREVENTION - We started off strong by making connections with school and community allies in order to start off this action project.
Although we are still up in the works regarding our next big step, workshops, educating the community, and bringing in resources to students at the school are all ideas that have been discussed. Nothing is set in stone, but we encourage you to look forward to our upcoming events!
TENANT RIGHTS - Despite being a sensitive topic, the youth council is very passionate about advocating for tenant rights and educating, especially for our low income Spanish speaking communities. We are also advocating for affordable housing so that people in our community, like farm workers, are able to afford and live comfortably. It's been more than over a decade since Gonzales last built homes, and the current and new generations deserve the right to be able to live in their hometown, and not pay an extremely high cost.
TEEN INNOVATION CENTER - The longest project the GYC has worked on is supposed to break ground in May 2024! Students for decades have worked outside of school on presentations, projects, or study groups in fast food restaurants, parks, or grocery stores due to the lack of spaces available to students after school hours. The Teen Innovation Center will be a new privilege for many high school students as they will finally have an appropriate and quality space to innovate.
We can only anticipate another successful term next year. Again, thank you to all the adults that have supported us, guided us, and helped us in moving forward with the many action projects we have, and will take on. Happy Holidays, and we will be back in the Spring!
GYC Fall Term Update | 2023 | Created by : Lizbeth de Leon - Santos