Articles

The Líderes de Hoy essay contest was an opportunity for young Hispanic leaders to share their perspective on what it means to be a leader in their community. Essays answered the question: As a young leader, how have you been a catalyst for positive change and contributed to inspiring your community?

Erik Casynn

Erik Casynn is a senior at Ute Creek Secondary Academy in Longmont, Colorado. During his high school career, he volunteered at his local hospital where his dedication earned him the “LUV Volunteer with Most Hours” award. At the Colorado Christian Home, he served on the Centennial Planning Committee and helped organize the Centennial Homecoming for former residents of the orphanage.

Erik’s greatest achievement has been working on the City of Longmont Youth Council - which serves as the official advisory board to the Longmont City Council - as Chairman for the Alcohol Awareness Subcommittee and later as Vice President of the Advisory Board. The council realized the need to address underage drinking and joined the local police departments and the Drinking Prevention Coalition in the fight against it. Erik helped hire a professional facilitator with whom in collaboration the Council created the “Power of Friendship” presentation for the local youth. This presentation emphasizes the importance of friends in a teenager’s life: “Friends help friends make the right decisions regarding drinking and other life choices.”

Most remarkably, Erik worked on creating an alcohol–poisoning card that teens can carry in their wallets with information about heart and breathing rates during alcohol consumption. Knowing the data concerning Hispanic alcohol use, Erik suggested that the council reach out to the Hispanic community and had the cards translated into Spanish. They were distributed from a booth at a Cinco de Mayo festival: “This was a huge success, and we were able to reach out to a community that would have been left out without our involvement.”

Presently, Erik is the cochair of the Longmont Youth Council. The Council recently finished working in the local schools for Yellow Ribbon Week. Erik and the Youth Council went to the city council and had the week of September 18th proclaimed by the mayor as Suicide Prevention Week or Yellow Ribbon Week. The council made yellow ribbons and handed out cards with the national hotline number on them in the local schools. Erik is now working on a community summit for youth to discuss the results from a Youth Risk Behavior Survey (YRBS) conducted by the school district last year. The YRBS explores all the risks that youth are taking in the Longmont community, such as drug abuse, drinking, unprotected sex, unhealthy eating, and lack of exercise. His next project is a multicultural event where every culture of Longmont will be celebrated.

Erik hopes to attend Western Washington University in Bellingham, Washington, or Colorado University in Denver. He is presently considering a major in psychology and minor in business, and he plans to study medicine because of his love of helping people.

For more information about underage drinking please read the following article http://lideres.nclr.org/articles/detail/1736.html

Janet Del Real

Janet Del Real lives in Modesto, California and is the youngest of five siblings. She attends Peter Johansen High School and is in the 12th grade. Her passion for community service comes from her conviction to “make a difference, having my hands touch and impact the world.” She is a devoted Catholic and strives to make a change not only in her community but also in the world.

During the summer of 2005, Janet went on a missionary trip to Honduras to help build an orphanage. As Associate Student Body President in her high school, Janet helped build two Relay-for-Life teams for the American Cancer Society. She organized these teams when she realized that although the race was to be held at her school, none of the students were participating. With her leadership, her school raised $4,000 for cancer prevention and awareness programs. She is an active environmentalist and teaches other students about the importance of conserving energy, recycling, protecting our resources, and cleaning up the environment. She is the president of the countywide Hispanic Youth Leadership Council where she helps her peers experience leadership experiences.

Janet is presently building a community service club at her high school known as the S.O.U.L. Team (Serving Others with Unconditional Love). They plan to go to the local hospitals and visit with the children. She is cocaptain of Stanislaus Making Strides Against Breast Cancer and is helping to fundraise by organizing a 5k walk on the steps of the state capitol. Janet is enrolled in the Upward Bound program, which helps first generation college-bound students.

Janet plans on attending college in California or in Texas and intends to pursue a career in medicine: “Working with needy, impoverished children has always been my greatest passion, and I hope to be a missionary doctor, working for the underserved!”

To read about all of the essay winners go to http://lideres.nclr.org/opportunities/2006_essay_contest_/2005_essay_contest_winners/