Hello, Everyone!  My name is Cheyenne and I am currently a junior at Central High School.  This is my third year in Y Street and my first year on the Y Street Leadership Team!  I had the fantastic opportunity to participate in the Virginia Foundation for Healthy Youth’s Empower Series. This opportunity was truly a once-in-a-lifetime event where I was able to share my ideas, advocate for change, and let my voice be heard. 

For the first webinar “Youth Empowerment: When Youth Talk, We Listen – Passing the Microphone to the Next Generation”, I worked alongside youth leaders Sydney (Potomac HS) and Yvonne (Granby HS) to speak on how adults can build better strategies that work when talking to today’s youth.  We each were able to share our powerful thoughts on why adults need to listen to youth and how to communicate with young people.  Leading up to this event I was very excited to work and speak with people across Virginia and the United States.

For the second webinar “Youth Empowerment: When Youth Talk, We Listen – Pushing Policy for Youth Advocacy”, I facilitated the entire webinar by myself, which I found not only educational but very empowering!  I led a discussion with advocates from Virginia Hunger Solutions and 6 Wheels Consulting LLC on how young leaders can engage with local policy-makers about decisions that impact their communities.  During the session, we also talked about community leaders and how they too can develop strategies to connect youth to policymakers.

Overall, the topics we discussed relate to me on a personal level because each was specific to my interest in serving others and advocating for change when it is needed.  I walked away wanting to have more conversations about youth engagement and a feeling of wanting to do more in my community and get other youth involved.  I’ve always felt, and continue to feel, empowered to have the opportunity to use my voice in a positive manner to make a difference locally, statewide, or globally. I look forward to participating in more opportunities like this in the future!

To view VFHY’s Youth Empower Series, click here. 

Hi! My name is Felecia and I am a junior at Greensville County High School in Emporia, VA.  I have been a member of Y Street for two years and this is my first year as a Y Street Leadership Team (YSLT) member.  Although I have only been a part of the leadership team for a short amount of time, I feel as if I have learned quite a bit already.

Not only has Y Street taught me leadership skills but it has also helped me brush up on my social skills, which is always a good thing. Throughout my time in Y Street, we have worked on two major campaigns, Share The Air and Rev Your Bev.  Share The Air is about promoting and advocating for tobacco-free outdoor spaces across the state and Rev Your Bev focuses on increasing water access, consumption, and promotion in schools. 

In October 2020, I met with my school division’s Nutrition Director.  The purpose of our meeting was to discuss the Rev Your Bev campaign and share information about the Y Street program. I was extremely nervous because I wanted to make an amazing impression on the Nutrition Director.

During the meeting, I began to calm down and finally breathe with each piece of information that was ushered out of my mouth. We talked about the purpose of Rev Your Bev and ways that youth gather support and feedback from the community such as through online surveys. We also discussed the previous achievements and milestones of our partner schools and shared awesome pics from last year’s annual Rev Your Bev Day activities.

When the meeting was over, the Nutrition Director was really impressed by the information that was presented and by how well the campaign was put together.  She agreed to support Rev Your Bev and help with raising campaign awareness any way that she could. It gave me great satisfaction to know that I had just made a big contribution to the campaign.

That meeting taught me that you don’t have to be an adult to make a big contribution to your school and community.  Activists come in all shapes and ages.  I was extremely proud of myself because I had set out to make a good impression and inspire the Nutrition Director, and that’s what I did.  I hope this meeting encourages the school division to take in the information and incorporate Rev Your Bev’s best practices into schools’ efforts. I look forward to more meetings just like this in the future.  Who knows…. maybe one day a Y-Ster will be meeting with me as a chairwoman of some sort. The sky’s the limit from here!

To learn more about Rev Your Bev, visit revyourbev.com.

Hey!  My name is Yvonne, and I am a rising senior at Granby High School.  I have been a part of Y Street for two years and the Y Street Leadership Team for a year!  During the months of January and February, I had a fantastic opportunity to be a part of the Virginia Foundation for Healthy Youth’s Empower Series. It was a four-part series that involved my fellow YSLT leaders, Cheyenne and Sydney. 

“Passing the Mic to the Next Generation” was the first webinar that we participated in that was held in January. All three of us were asked questions about how our individual lives changed in 2020 due to the pandemic and how it affected our communities.  We were also asked questions on how adults should engage young people such as, “Why is it important for adults to listen to youth before they make decisions on our behalf?” and “What strategies can adults use to work together with youth to make a better future?”  This webinar gave us the chance to speak to adults and change their perspectives on youth involvement. 

The other three webinars were hosted by each of us individually on a specific topic, and mine was called “Effectively Communicating in a New Virtual World.”  This was the perfect webinar for me to host!  The aim of the webinar was to inspire and provide the audience with specific examples of how they can connect with more young people in their community in an engaging way within virtual spaces.  2020 was the year of significant adjustments, and communication was greatly affected.  For years, we have engaged in human interaction and in a blink of an eye, we were isolated.  The pandemic caused all communities to quickly shift to a virtual space with schools, events, and activities.

During the webinar, I interviewed Laura Furr from Laura Furr Consulting, Regen Johnson, Alternatives Inc., and Kareeshama Ali from Greater Good Studios who shared their experiences on youth advocacy.  The audience received guidance, advice, and examples of ways to connect to youth and engage them in new virtual activities.

The best part about this whole opportunity was that I was a voice for the youth community.  My voice was heard by adults not only in the state of Virginia but throughout the United States.  I shared my opinion and gave adults insight into opportunities they could be missing when engaging and connecting with the youth. I’ve always wanted to make a change and be a voice for those who did not believe they had one or were too afraid to use their own voice, and with this event, I was able to check that off my goal list. To the youth, I want you to know that adults are willing to listen to you.  You know something that they don’t, and they need your help to make sure that your future is just right.  Don’t be afraid to voice your opinion or scared to be a voice for others.  Everyone deserves for their voice to be heard!

To view VFHY’s Youth Empowerment: When Youth Talk, We Listen webinars of this series, please click here.

Hello!  My name is Jessie and I am a senior at King George High School.  This is my fourth year in Y Street and my second year on the Y Street Leadership Team.  As a statewide volunteer initiative, Y Street has promoted various health campaigns such as Share The Air.  The Share The Air campaign aims to make Virginia’s outdoor public spaces 100% tobacco-free and e-cigarette-free.  To push the campaign goals forward and create positive change across the state, fellow Y Street leaders and I have engaged with community members and met with decision-makers.

On January 13, I was invited to present on Share The Air at the King George County Parks and Recreation Advisory Committee meeting to continue the discussion from the meeting I participated in last summer with King George County’s Park Director, who was very supportive of the campaign.  To prepare, I practiced the presentation and considered the potential questions that could be asked by committee members.  During the virtual meeting, we thoroughly discussed the campaign, from sharing personal experiences and the issues caused by tobacco use, such as exposure to secondhand smoke and vape aerosol, to campaign strategies to tackle the issue.  We also discussed the voluntary tobacco-free and e-cigarette-free outdoor policy that local park authorities can adopt and implement and the free resources that Share The Air provide such as tobacco-free signage and social media promotion.  At the end of the meeting, the committee agreed to discuss the proposed policy further and expressed interest in receiving free signage to help with implementation and communication if they decide to adopt the policy.  They also were eager to share information about the campaign with others.

From having the opportunity to present to key decision-makers, I’ve learned that many people from my community truly do support the policy and goals that are brought forth by the Share The Air campaign, which is inspiring and exciting.  Supporting tobacco-free outdoor spaces encourages healthy behaviors that will ultimately benefit the community and environment.  To learn more about the campaign and show your support for tobacco-free, smoke-free, and vapor-free outdoor spaces, visit sharetheairva.com.

Hi!  My name is Najor and I am a senior at Potomac High School.  I have been a member of Y Street for two years and this is my first year on the Y Street Leadership Team.  On November 23, 2020, I met with Fredericksburg’s Park Director and staff members about the Share The Air campaign that promotes 100% tobacco-free and e-cigarette free outdoor public spaces.  The purpose of the meeting was to educate them about the campaign and discuss how Share The Air can serve as a resource to support them with implementing a voluntary tobacco-free and e-cigarette-free outdoor policy.

To ensure everyone’s safety, the meeting took place via Zoom.  After introductions, we discussed the campaign’s goals and objectives and the free resources we offer to Parks and Recreation Departments who adopt a voluntary tobacco-free outdoor policy.  During the meeting, the main discussion point was enforcement and whether the public will adhere to the policy if they see tobacco-free signage in the parks.  We explained that communication is key and that most people will comply if they know the policy exists.  By the end of the meeting, the Park Director was very supportive and wanted to share the campaign information with her supervisors.  She also mentioned a possible follow-up meeting with her supervisors to further discuss the importance of this effort.

One thing I took away from this experience is the hope that Fredericksburg Parks and Recreation will adopt a voluntary tobacco-free and e-cigarette-free outdoor policy.  If the policy is adopted, it will create healthier outdoor recreational areas because the parks will be free of secondhand smoke and aerosol from vape products, protecting youth with asthma.  It will also help to keep the parks clean from litter since most tobacco products are likely to end up as litter. According to a National Litter Study, tobacco products are the most littered item nationwide, accounting for nearly 40%of all littered items.[1] 

Meeting with my local Parks and Recreation Department benefits the campaign because it raises awareness about the need for tobacco-free and vapor-free outdoor spaces, which is the first step in creating change locally.  To learn more about Share The Air and to support the campaign, visit sharetheairva.com and complete a message of support today.

[1] Keep America Beautiful, Inc. 2009 National Visible Litter Survey and Litter Cost Study. https://www.kab.org/sites/default/ les/News%20%26%20Info_Research_2009_NationalVisibleLitterSurveyandCostStudy_Final.pdf