My name is Stephanie and I am currently a senior at Christiansburg High School. This is my third year in Y Street and my second year on the Y Street Leadership Team. This is also my third year working on Great Starts with Breakfast Campaign.
High school students skip breakfast everyday because they don’t have time in the morning, their bus doesn’t get to school in time, their friends don’t get breakfast in the morning, and some students don’t even know where to get breakfast. These students are missing the most important meal of the day. Schools can adopt alternative breakfast models such as a grab and go breakfast, breakfast in the classroom, or a second chance breakfast; which I personally have worked with.

Great Starts with Breakfast is a great Y Street campaign that assists schools in adopting new breakfast models so that every student has the chance to start their day off right. Great Starts with Breakfast recently had a day of action through Feeding America. Two of our Y Street members dressed up as popular breakfast items, eggs and bacon. Students lined up to take their pictures with the mascots. As students filled out MOPs, they were eligible to pick a plastic egg from a carton with a number underneath. The numbers corresponded with ton of cool prizes. We received nothing but positive feedback from the student body. My school adopted the alternative breakfast model, second chance breakfast. Having a second chance breakfast between first and second period has been a huge success! I cannot stress enough the importance of breakfast on all of our academic futures. Without breakfast students are grumpy and no one wants that. Although you can’t force someone to eat breakfast, any Y-Ster can and should encourage students to participate in breakfast beyond our Great Starts events. Together we can help all students own the day with an awesome breakfast!

Hi, I’m Kit, a recently graduated senior at Fauquier High School! I joined Y Street last year when they entered my school through FBLA, and I became a member of the Leadership Team last summer. Becoming a Y-Ster has substantiated to be one of the best experiential decisions I have made!
Y Street is a youth-run initiative advocating for healthy living in Virginia. Students have the opportunity to join the organization once their school is accepted into the Y Street Partner Program and the members go through a training session on the campaigns. Being a member of Y Street allows students to develop advocacy, communication, and teamwork skills through educating the public and campaigning to update policies and models. Currently, Y-Sters are promoting 100% tobacco free schools through the Twenty-four/Seven project, introducing alternative breakfast models under Great Starts with Breakfast, using Rev Your Bev to inform peers about the additive sugars in their drinks, and eliminating food deserts around Virginia by surveying communities with Fresh Spot.
Y Street has expanded my involvement in volunteering, strengthened my workplace readiness skills, and influenced my passion for community engagement. I am passionate about Y Street because it’s healthy living mission demonstrates grounded goals and effective results that better communities. Y Street’s efforts have benefited me as a leader through encouraging positive skill-building experiences and have benefited my community through informing the public about healthy practices and promoting structural changes in application. By joining, individuals are presented countless opportunities to create an influential change in their community; Y Street cultivates prosperous initiatives within each individual’s participation.

Is the opportunity to get involved with Y Street at your school? Click here [link: http://my.ystreet.org/apply] to apply for training.

My name is Zariawn and I’m a junior at Granby High School. As of my two years in Y Street, this is my first year apart of the Y Street Leadership Team. I’m a young person with the interests of informing my community about important situations and playing an active role in policy change. Policy sets the record straight when dealing with the rules and regulations of a place or events’ expected ways of operation. If policy is passed, it could have a tremendous effect on not only people, but their environments. A structural change in society results in a new way of life.
Y Street works to change incomplete or outdated policies to ensure all important information is to be explicitly clear to rid any possible loopholes and promote healthy living in a formal manner. I’ve spoken twice to the School Board of the Norfolk Public Schools Division to ask for and showcase a revised school tobacco policy. A revised policy and a healthier school would affect children’s lives for the greater good.
Youth should care about policy because it truly shapes a future we’d like to live in. Y Street has taught me that another great way of benefitting your community is to write a positive change in stone that stands through policy. By becoming more involved in policy, others could learn more about the policy process and why policy is a vital factor in the functioning of success. People should support the policy changes Y Street is trying to make because the ultimate goal is a healthier life for all Virginians.

My name is Zarielle A and I am a junior at Granby High School. I have been involved in Y Street for 2 years now and this has been my first year on the Y Street Leadership Team.
I feel that tobacco-free school divisions are important because when comparing class averages in test scores between smokers and non-smokers, those who smoke tend to score very low. From this, it is concluded that smoking and tobacco use causes negative effects on our youths academic processing and school participation. As a student, those around me that are tobacco users in my opinion, are pushing themselves down a negative path especially being so young. Tobacco use comes with many health problems, so since we are so young, we can almost “set” a pathway for our health to follow, for those who are tobacco users, to me, are already damaging their health’s future. From personal experience, my parents both used to be heavy tobacco users, so I’ve witnessed the many health problems they went through from tobacco use. It wasn’t until they both stopped smoking that their health became better and they no longer suffer the many health effects they used to have.
A tobacco-free school impacts a community by not allowing for harmful substances to be used in an area where progress and growth should be made. Also, tobacco-free schools tend to have information available to those who need it; for example, signs, in which the information help to aid the youth and community as to why tobacco use is so harmful. Students are influenced by tobacco-free policies by learning of the many consequences that come with tobacco use on school grounds, being given places they can go to for help if they are already tobacco users, and the benefits of being “informed” or “persuaded” to quit. With school board meetings, principal meetings, signs, information cards, and school held events, Y Streets efforts help schools by thoroughly providing aid, information, and guidance to tobacco users and to the schools in hopes of the students and the school division in becoming 100% tobacco-free.

For more information on the 24/7 Campaign, visit 247campaignva.com.

My name is Morgan I am a recent graduate of Colgan High School. This past year was my third year in Y Street and my second year on the Y Street Leadership Team. Y Street is a youth-led movement that strives to promote health in Virginia by targeting issues such as unhealthy beverage consumption, tobacco usage, and obesity. So why did I choose to primarily focus on obesity?
Although Virginia is one of the country’s largest agriculture producers, many Virginians are becoming increasingly nutritionally deficient, which can cause an increased risk of type two diabetes and obesity. Youth are at a larger risk for developing a health issue because children are being introduced to unhealthy diet habits at much younger ages than in previous years. Also, youth, including teenagers, are more susceptible to meticulously-targeted food ads which allow for a certain “norms” to be established that popularize unhealthy diet practices, blinding youth from other forms of nutrition. I want to introduce youth, like myself, to healthier alternatives because I believe that everyone has the right to know how to live and practice a healthy lifestyle.
Y Street combats health issues by breaking down the issues into smaller campaigns that help youth by providing supplemental resources and data to initiate policy change within Virginia. Also, Y Street encourages youth to make healthy decisions by offering supplemental resources that educate and advise readers about easy ways to attain a healthy lifestyle. I would be thrilled to see more youth adopt practices to begin a healthier lifestyle because these youths would have more energy and they would go on to live happier lifestyles. If our communities adopted healthier lifestyles, a larger group of people would become happier, increasing community support and creating life-long benefits. Y Street advocates for healthier lifestyles by attending community events and educating individuals about the health benefits of a diet change while engaging in fun activities!

My name is Koby and I’m a senior at Broad Run High School in Ashburn, VA. Broad Run is home of the Spartans and is a part of the Loudoun County Public School division. As for my accomplishments and goals in Y Street, I have been on the Y Street Leadership Team (YSLT) for a year. I have had the opportunity to run multiple events and am eager to make Loudoun County a comprehensive tobacco-free school division. Today I want to talk about leadership!

Being a leader has nothing to do with “me” and has everything to do with “you.” There’s something that we all desire, or talents and abilities that we possess. It is the leader’s job to expose people’s talents and abilities and encourage them to move in a different, more meaningful direction. Sure people can have many different hobbies or passions, but a leader is someone who encourages someone else to follow a new direction – whatever that may be.

When it comes to our Y Street campaigns, it is important that the Y Street Leadership Team does their job to implement this change by being effective leaders. Being a leader is all about standing for what you believe in and creating a movement of people that will stand with you. Y Street has multiple campaigns that promote a healthier Virginia, but without anyone to encourage people to follow, it is difficult to create change. At the end of the day, our movement is all about bringing value to every student, staff, and visitor at the public schools here in Virginia.

Hello everyone, my name is Josh S. and I’m a junior at King George High School. For the past two years I have been a part of Y Street to help my school become a better and healthier part of my community. Y Street has given me tremendous opportunity to connect with my fellow students and the community of King George, and it goes to show that when you want to help your school, everyone is on board. Y Street is run by us, the students, with help from our advisor, Mrs. Strauss. We work together to hold events, meetings, trainings, and so much more!

Last year, Y-Sters at King George High School spoke to our school board to change our tobacco policy to be 100% comprehensive. This year, we held events at the King George Fall Festival as well as at sports and community events held at the school. At these events, we talked to people about our campaigns and gathered important data to help our school. Yes, this is nerve-racking, but it is a great way for us to come out of our shells and become fearless. Plus we have a card to help us talk about the event if we go off topic.

Right now, Y-Sters at KGHS are looking towards bringing more accessible food to our high school. Great Starts with Breakfast is a very important campaign for our students. Every student should be provided with breakfast so they can have high energy throughout the day. We will need to present the data we gather from our events to our Nutritional Director so we can get the ball rolling. Our Great Starts With Breakfast lunch event was a hit with all the students at King George High School. We went to lunch tables, talking to students about the importance of eating a healthy breakfast. We also had students take surveys to be able to spin a prize wheel and get one of our many GSWB swag items.

We also spread the word about drinking healthily. Rev Your Bev was held on May 25, 2018 in schools across Virginia. For King George, as soon as lunch started, people were coming to our table wanting to know what we were up to; it was safe to say that everyone had a blast. We had water set out for people to drink and as students were filling out surveys, Y-Sters talked to them about the importance of drinking water. Students took water surveys to find their favorite water flavors. In the simplest words, King George loved it.

Y Street is bringing students together not only in their local communities but around the entire Commonwealth to lead Virginia to a healthier tomorrow. Y Street is not only an “activist club,” but a club where we learn life lessons about voicing our opinions for the betterment of our communities. Furthermore, it has taught us responsibility, dedication, persistence, and leadership skills. This organization has not only brought students together but has bonded us as friends and team members working towards a common goal. We are always learning from the organization and the students that we work with, and I personally recommend Y Street to every student. This organization will help you grow as a person and will teach you life skills that everyone should know. Y Street is still growing within King George and we can’t wait to see what else it has in store for our school and the students within it.

My name is Mariel, and I am an 11th-grade Y-Ster at Powhatan High School. Recently at our school we celebrated Rev Your Bev Day! This year, Rev Your Bev Day’s goal was to promote drinking water in new and exciting ways.

At our school, many of the students had a lot of fun sampling the different waters we provided. Many enjoyed comparing the bubbly water with strawberries and blueberries to the filtered water with lemon and lime. It surprised me that so many students were completely willing to fill out MOPs even without getting the samples or the giveaway items. While it was hard work, I had a fun day. I helped people recognize that they can have water instead of sugary drinks and still have a refreshing drink that tastes good.

Many students said that they would drink more water after the event. Since the event, I have personally seen more people who used to bring soda or Kool-Aid to school now bring water bottles instead. I can definitely say that knowing that we made a difference and helped people feels amazing!

Hi! My name is Alex B. and I am a junior at Christiansburg High School in Christiansburg, VA. I’ve been an activist for Y Street for two years now and it has been amazing. It’s been inspiring to watch as students speak up about improvements they want in their school and how Y Street helps to make them happen.

This year, I had the opportunity to be a part of Y Street’s “Healthy Hearts Carnation Gram” at my high school held the week before Valentine’s Day. It was really simple. Anyone who filled out a survey got to send a carnation with a personalized note to someone in the school. We started by going table to table asking if students wanted to fill out the surveys. Most students were hesitant about participating as they assumed they would have to pay to send the carnation (as that has been the case with other Valentine’s Day events in the past). But once students heard that it was free, word spread fast. Within the first two lunches, there were already close to 100 surveys filled out! The next day the table was swarming with students wanting to fill out surveys and be a part of the event.

The Carnation Gram was a huge success at my school and I’m hoping to continue it again next year. However, this campaign did so much more than just give students the opportunity to send each other flowers; many students began asking what Y Street was and how they could get involved! One day we had visitors from a neighboring high school asking how they could get Y Street at their school. This project was great because it was a chance for students to see all the different events you could participate in as a Y-Ster!

Hi, my name is Nazifa and I am a junior at JR Tucker High School in Henrico, Virginia. This is my first year in Y Street and it has been a fun learning experience. I have gained experience communicating with people and answering questions from all different types of people. I have learned that our school takes great pride in being tobacco-free.

On February 14 my school celebrated Tobacco-Free Spirit Day. We helped to promote the 24/7 campaign and I really enjoyed it. I’m very proud that our school stands behind such a great and powerful message and is dedicated to making our school 100% tobacco-free.

I had the opportunity to lead the day as a Tobacco-Free Spirit Day Captain. With the help of my fellow Y-Sters, we set up a table outside of our cafeteria and made sure everything was neat and organized, which was fun.

I liked the whole pre-event process. My YFO, Janice, had been very helpful in communicating with me and helping me get everything needed for the event set up along with Mrs. Johnson, our advisor, who helped us by providing us with extra materials. My friend Mikhayla, who is another Y-Ster, also helped set up the event. We had a lot of fun decorating the table and taking photos with other Y-Sters who helped, like Caleb and Hunter.

Interacting at the event was really fun. My school is one of the most diverse schools in our county, so there are lots of different people with unique views and opinions. I liked talking with my peers about our campaign and our youth group, which is working hard to keep our school 100% tobacco-free.

One conversation I had was with my friend Meron. We started talking because she was interested at first sight. She filled out a survey and we talked about how us Y-Sters are trying to promote our 24/7 campaign and working to make our school 100% tobacco-free. She was so inspired that she actually started helping us recruit people. She was sad that she hadn’t applied to Y Street because it looked like a fun and powerful thing to do.

I loved seeing students at our school get excited about taking pictures and winning prizes. We had lots of success filling out surveys and people were eager to do it. I was surprised that students weren’t the only ones getting involved, but teachers and even the principal. It made me happy that people were proud of our school being a 100% tobacco-free environment, and I think all together we can help other schools be 100% tobacco-free too. One of the best things about Tobacco-Free Spirit Day was that by the end, my friends were interested in joining Y Street because they saw the great impact we had created. We want to make Virginia a healthier and better place to live in. I hope to create a chain reaction that starts with me affecting someone else. Y Street has affected me and I hope to spread awareness.