RCEDA 8.5x11 Report d3

Youth Summit: This Youth Summit is a youth conference that is held annually and completely sponsored by the County of Riverside Youth Commission and the Youth Advisory Council Students. High schools from throughout the County are invited to attend the event. Several speakers discuss topics that are important to today’s youth. The 20 th Annual Youth Summit was held on Friday, April 13 th , 2018 at the Moreno Valley Conference Center. 335 students representing 14 high schools from throughout the County registered to attend. This year’s theme was, “Awareness and Preparedness” inspired by Nathaniel Branden’s quote that “the first step toward change is awareness.” The speaking topics included Youth Civic Engagement, Safety Preparedness and Self Defense, Rape Culture and Domestic Violence. These topics were selected by the Youth Commission as points of interest for today’s Riverside County Youth. Dr. Charles Lee-Johnson of Cal Baptist University gave the keynote presentation, Turning a Mess into a Message . Dr. Lee-Johnson spoke about sexual abuse and domestic violence using his own personal experiences of growing up in an abusive household. Participants stated that the speech was impactful and eye opening. Students visited over 10 community exhibitors during their lunch hour including Mt. San Jacinto College, University of California Riverside, Riverside University Healthy Systems Public Health, Community Action Partnership and many more. Students enjoyed fun games during their breaks, including Freeze Dance and a team building activity called the Human Knot. The Youth Summit gave students the opportunity to learn about important issues, feel empowered and use that knowledge to make plans for the future.

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