What The L.A. Trust’s Y2Y Conference meant to me

More than 100 Los Angeles student health advocates and their adult allies attended The L.A. Trust’s Youth to Youth Conference.

The L.A. Trust Y2Y Conference was developed by students, for students, and included youth-led workshops on STD prevention, stress, healthy eating and active living. Here’s one student’s account of how this event, for students by students, impacted her.

By Ashley Diaz
Manual Arts High School

Going to The L.A. Trust Y2Y Conference was definitely eye opening for someone like me who was going through a time when I was trying to discover myself. The stories that were shared really touched a place in my heart, telling me that there shouldn’t be such a thing as giving up.

This one presentation by a group of kids talking about teenage stress helped me discover symptoms of stress that I didn’t know I lived with. When I was hanging out with my partner Taaliyah, I was happy I got the chance to know her better, and we now consider each other friends.

Things like that Y2Y Conference really help bring people together no matter their purpose being there. As a presenter, the only thing that worried me was the possible lack of engagement from the audience. But at the end I was satisfied with the amount of responses I got. I really like to try and give a neutral vibe when talking to audiences to make them feel comfortable, that’s why I usually like to use my humor as a comforting tool.

I believe the honesty is what gets the audience’s attention, and it’s a way to help scare them away from the dangerous things we want them to avoid in life.

As for me, the Conference will always be something to be thankful for, and presenting to bigger crowds will definitely help me improve my skills as a presenter. Also, the vibes and positive energy I felt from the staff was very comforting as well as the help that came from everyone, such as the caterers, the presenters, and the teachers. They really help make a difference in the world and they make people like me want to follow in their footsteps.

Student advisory members train each other at Y2Y event

More than 100 student health advocates and their adult allies learned from each other March 2, 2020, at The Los Angeles Trust for Children’s Health annual Youth to Youth Conference, held at the California Endowment in downtown L.A.

Members of The L.A. Trust’s Student Advisory Boards from the Belmont, Carson, Crenshaw, Elizabeth Learning Center, Fremont, Gage, Jefferson, Jordan, Locke, MaCES, Manual Arts and Washington Prep campuses attended. The next Y2Y Conference will be held in November.  

“Y2Y is for students, by students,” said Robert Renteria, The L.A. Trust’s program manager who helped facilitate the gathering. “Students think of questions and answers adults don’t think of,” he said. “They also have great credibility with their peers. We saw in our workshops that these young people have tremendous insights on student health.”

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The Summit included an impassioned keynote by former Hollywood High Student Advisory Board member Wendy Siguenza, who talked about the real-life challenges facing many LAUSD students, from immigration to social injustice. LAUSD Student Health and Human Services psychologist Dr. Kimani Norrington-Sands addressed the hidden trauma some students have suffered and outlined services, counseling and referrals available through the District’s Wellness Center network.

The L.A. Trust’s partner F*ck Cancer hosted an information booth and an online petition to the California State Assembly to expand access to the life-saving human papilloma virus (HPV) vaccine.

Youth-to-youth workshops

In the morning, students from Locke presented a one-hour workshop on how to promote HPV vaccinations; Crenshaw students gave a breakout session on STDs and birth control; and Carson students outlined how to relieve stress and improve the mental health of teenagers. In the afternoon, students from Jordan High gave a workshop on how to run a student health campaign on campus. 

Students also participated in workshops on:

• Wellness & Adolescent Substance Use Prevention project (WASUP)

• Tobacco Use Prevention Education (TUPE), focused on vaping cessation

• The L.A. Trust’s Healthy Eating, Active Living (HEAL) outreach

• A presentation on LAUSD water quality by the District’s Chief Facilities Executive Mark Hovatter

A separate track provided information for the Student Advisory Boards’ Adult Allies. 

The conference an exercise that asked students to consider the most important parts of their identities, including ethnicity, sexual orientation and personal passions, a social media challenge, a photo booth and a TikTok-inspired “Renegade” dance competition. 

“The Y2Y event is always an ‘all hands on deck’ event for The L.A. Trust, and our entire staff was proud to support our student advocates once again,” said Maryjane Puffer, executive director. “The enthusiasm of the young people is not just inspiring, it’s essential to the success of our programs and outreach,” she said. “It’s why we build student engagement into everything we do at The L.A. Trust.”

Student Advisory Board allies share best practices to engage students

Program Manager Robert Renteria and other staff members from The L.A. Trust led the spring 2020 meeting of Student Advisory Board Adult Allies on January 29.

Adult allies who work with the Student Advisory Boards of the LAUSD’s Wellness Center network met at The L.A. Trust January 29, 2020 to discuss outreach programs to improve student health.

More than a dozen Adult Allies and healthcare advocates from across the Wellness Center Network attended, including Norma Ahumada, Cassie Angu, Hanna Christianson, Kristie Garrison, Karina Gonzalez, Annette Hernandez, Deannie Moreira, Marina Quintanilla, Adam Renuet, Miriam Villaseñor, Stephan Salazar, Miguel Topete, Michelle Torres and Brenda Villatoro. 

Strategies and tactics

The half-day meeting, facilitated by Program Director Robert Renteria, included tactics to engage students, best practices sharing and a review of resources available from The L.A. Trust and other sources. 

The meeting focused on five student health campaigns prioritized by The L.A. Trust: 

• Healthy Eating and Active Living, designed to reduce childhood obesity and promote healthier eating habits and more active lifestyles.

• Essential Access Health, designed to increase awareness of sexually transmitted disease, increase chlamydia screenings at school-based Wellness Centers and reduce teen pregnancy rates.

• Not Us, designed to encourage vaccination for the human papillomavirus (HPV) and reduce related cancers.

• TUPE (Tobacco-Use Prevention Education), designed to educate students about the health risks of vaping and using drugs, including cannabis and tobacco.

• SBIRT, a Screening, Brief Intervention and Referral-to-Treatment practice used to identify, reduce and prevent the use and abuse of alcohol, tobacco and drugs.

Peer education key

“Our Student Advisory Boards are key to helping students make the right choices, and our adult allies ensure they get the resources they need,” Robert Renteria said. “The L.A. Trusts works directly with these student health leaders and we are looking forward to hearing their ideas March 2 at our annual Y2Y (youth-to-youth) Summit.”

“Every student, like every adult, has the power to improve their health,” Rosario Rico added. “It is up to those of us in the student health community to make sure students have the education and healthcare access they need. 

“I am amazed at the passion of our adult allies and the passion of our student health advocates. They are making a real difference in the health outcomes of LAUSD students.”