DCYAC Closing Ceremony

    My name is Ryan Washington and I am currently the Ward 2 Council-Member for the District of Columbia Youth Advisory Council. Before becoming a council-memeber, I served as a ward advisor for Ward 2. After being apart of this council for over a year and a half, I have grown a lot, along with other council-members and ward advisors. This year was really productive and we have accomplished many things since the beginning of the term. We have had many losses and additions but, at the end of the day, we are all still doing what we love, and that’s serving as a youth advocate and role model.


   I am a member of the Finance Committee and I have to say, there was a drastic change from last year’s committee to this year’s. Well, for starts, we got a new chair for the Finance Committee, which is Council-Member Terrell Bowditch, who I believe; set the tone for all future Finance Chair’s as far as what’s expected and how to uphold the position.

   When we were coming to the end of the term, the Finance Committee wanted to host an event, and we had originally agreed to host a silent auction, which was a good idea, but not the best decision at the time. We eventually realized that the silent auction just wasn’t going to work. I personally did not want the year to end without celebrating our success and we had very little time to decide what we were going to do so, we came up with the conclusion that we were going to have a “professional party-like” ceremony.

    We were all excited about the new idea and we all knew that there was going to have to be a lot of work and time invested in the development of the event. There great ideas coming from everyone on the Finance Committee and they were all great ideas, which were definitely implemented into the planning of the ceremony and the ceremony itself.

    After weeks of planning, the day of the ceremony was finally here. Everybody was excited and nervous but, we were eager to get started. There were many things that went wrong that day and there were many things that were not in place, before and during the event but, no matter what happened the event was still going to be a success. The team behind the whole event which consisted of the Finance Committee, Sarah Williams & Sean Gough (Our Bosses), as well as other council members, had been invincible. We were the ultimate team and we made sure that the event had been set up, to a certain extinct where if we had problems they wouldn’t affect the event and that’s how it went. We were all supportive of each other and we all worked together to make the event a success.

     My job at the ceremony was to oversee everything with Sarah as well as introduce the Mayor and I really enjoyed it. From the food spilling on the floor (which is what we promised the Sumner School that it wouldn’t happen) to myself introducing the Mayor and the relief and happiness of him getting a warm and happy welcome.

    After the ceremony, Sarah, Sean, and I stepped outside and we all talked about how to appreciative we were of each other and how the event would not have been a success without the hard work and dedication we invested into the event. So, to sum it up, this is by far one of the most successful events the DCYAC has hosted during the time in which I have been on the council and I am proud to say that I was a part of the event and the council.

-By Ryan Washington

The Problem with Youth in D.C

            In today’s society, there are plenty of problems that affect us today like war, recession, and politics. The main issue that troubles us the most is the youth in our city with no parental guidance. There are all kinds of trouble that youth become involved in such as drugs, gang violence and robberies. How do I know this? I have done my research by watching the news and reading periodicals, which young people are fighting and killing one another. Some reasons that youth behave in such a negative e manner include popularity, peer pressure and abandonment. When youth lack parental guidance, they sometimes miss out on having positive role models in their lives. We can fix this problem by trying to keep these kids in school and not on the street. We can try to reunite them with their family and fix whatever problem that is happening in the family. And if there are gangs that are causing loads of trouble in are communities they need to be handled by the police department and they most be disbanded before innocent people get hurt. The youth in today’s society are our future leaders. So we must do our best to make sure that they grow up in a safe and clean environment.

By Dominique Jordan

This Is Why I Am Here!!!

Before joining the District of Columbia Youth Advisor Council (DCYAC), I didn’t have any desire to address or change the issues in my community. I walked around with the attitude of if something didn’t directly affect me, then it didn’t concern me. However the DCYAC quickly fixed that. Since I became a member of the DCYAC, I have notice that all it takes is a few dedicated people—in our case, youth—to make a different in their community. I have participated in clothing drives, advocacy projects and even blood drive since I’ve been a member. This is a wonder program for those who have or want the ability to see a problem and not just complain about it, but fix it.

Kingman Island Community Service Project

In the DC Youth Advisory Council, I have participated in many activities, but the one that stuck out to me the most was the Kingman Island cleaning. The council, along with several other groups helped in the beautification of the Kingman Island clean up. We walked up and down along the Anacostia River picking up trash and recyclables.

My experience with participating in this community service was amazing. I felt like I really made a difference after cleaning. I think participating in this activity brought us closer together, we laughed and I even fell in the mud, but at the end of the day, we grow a closer bond. We even had a contest to see who could collect the most bottles by the time we were ready to leave. I recommend youth to participate in the DC Youth Advisory Council to everyone especially those who enjoy teamwork and want to make a difference in their community just as I did.

By Clarence Lee

Blood Drive

One of the best experiences that I had as a member of the DCYAC and the Health and Human services subcommittee was participating in the 2010 Blood Drive in conjunction with Washington Hospital Center and The Sidwell Friends School.

It was something g that I had never done before but I felt that it would be a nice way to give back to my community. I was a little nervous at first because people were telling me that I would lose a lot of blood and I was concerned about losing enough blood to the point where I would probably pass out!

When we arrived at the Sidwell Friends school I saw the amount of blood that they would be taking out of me, that’s when I really got nervous. When I sat in the chair, I saw the biggest needle that I had ever seen in my life. Now, I’m not afraid of needles or anything but that was a huge needle. When it went in my arm, blood shot out to my wrist. After that everything was perfectly fine. My favorite part was when I received all of the cookies and candy after I was finished giving blood. I felt good about myself knowing that I gave someone else a second chance at life.

By Anthony McCannon

Toy Drive at Blue Plains MPD

On Wednesday and Thursday, December 2nd and 3rd, we had additional volunteers to assist with sorting toys by gender and age from 10am – 5pm at the Metropolitan Police Academy 4665 Blue Plains Drive, SW 20032. There are many children in the District of Columbia that are in need of toys for Christmas.

Elements of Toys for Tots:

1.) Toys for Tots activity, which takes place each year, is the collection and distribution of toys in the communities in which a Marine Corps Reserve Unit is located. Local Toys for Tots Campaign Coordinators conduct an array of voluntary activities designed to increase interest in Toys for Tots, and concurrently generate toys and monetary donations. 

  

                         A.)  United States Marine Corps

              

                         B.)  Marine Forces Reserve


                        C.) Marine Toys for Tots Foundation
            
                        D.) Marine Corps League Detachments
             
                        E.) Local Community Organizations


**The program was founded in 1947 by Major Bill Hendricks. Marine Toys for Tots Foundation has supported Toys for Tots since 1991.


Goal:

• The primary goal of Toys for Tots is to deliver, through a new toy at Christmas, a message of hope to less fortunate youngsters that will assist them in becoming responsible, productive, patriotic citizens.

The Volunteers

Gabrielle Leach (Program Assistant), Ashley Pace (Intern)

More helpers to organize the toys

Thumbs Up for Toys For Tots

Please visit, http://www.toysfortots.org/ for more information regarding the Marines Toys for Tots Foundation.

Photos of the 2009/2010 Election Process

They all cast their vote..

The votes are in...

Congradulations for the

winners.  

The DCYAC  Election!!!

(Ryan Washington)

(John Verghese)

(Cleo Abram)

(Sean Gough and YAC getting ready for voting) 

(Voting in process)

The votes are in.....  

(Jesse Pollak)

(Tanise Martin)

(Committed intellectuals seeking to serve)

(Angelena Davis; Intern)

(Sean Gough and YAC )

(John Verghese)

(One of many candidates for the election)

(Sean Gough and Sarah Williams with ballots)

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DC's Youth Advisory Councilmembers  were elected to make a change for the young lives of the district.
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