Youth Summit aims to turn students away from gang life

LINDSAY — County officials expect 800 Tulare County high school students to attend the second annual Step Up Youth Summit on Thursday at the McDermont Field House in downtown Lindsay.

Students representing virtually every high school program in the county were selected by a principal or counselor who felt they would benefit from the message and resources presented at the summit.

The purpose of the Youth Summit is to connect, educate, equip and inspire Tulare County’s youth to live violence and drug-free lifestyles, pursue educational achievement and connect to their community in a positive manner.

“This year’s summit promises to be a high energy, highly-motivating event with speakers, entertainers and representatives our students will appreciate,” County Superintendent of Schools Jim Vidak said. “Each component of the event is designed to help them make positive choices for their lives and to see the limitless education and career possibilities available to them.”

The conference will take place from 8 a.m. to 2:30 p.m. It will offer guest presenters, breakout sessions and a resource fair.

Steve Worthley, Chairman of the Tulare County Board of Supervisors, said the goal of organizers is to try to personally impact the youth who will attend and to offer solutions that can help them be successful with future educational and career goals.

“The purpose of the Youth Summit is to deal with a significant issue in our county — gang-related youth violence,” Worthley said. “In a sense, what we hope to accomplish Thursday is to reach out on an individual basis to youth and encourage them to create a successful future for themselves.”

Nationally-known youth speaker Gabe Salazar will serve as the master of ceremonies and keynote speaker.

Through the use of powerful skits, dynamic insights and real-life illustrations, Gabe’s message inspires and motivates his audience to action.

Dr. Bill Michaelis and Ezra Holland, co-owners of www.Children-Together.com, will provide one of the breakout sessions attended by all students.

Performers from Homeboy Industries in Los Angeles will provide a second breakout session attended by all students.

Homeboy Industries is a non-profit organization that assists at-risk and formerly gang-involved youth to become positive and contributing members of society through job placement, training and education.

The organization is the nation’s largest gang intervention program, serving 12,000 clients per year and 8,000 gang members from 700 different gangs.

Students will also attend the Step Up Youth Summit Resource Fair, which is designed to provide them with a diverse mix of career, vocational, and higher education resources.

More than 40 Central Valley organizations will provide information on career exploration, vocational training services and local community colleges and universities.

Following the summit, a team of educators will visit select schools and ask their students to complete a survey about the event.

The team will also help these select schools lead discussion groups that will be videotaped for review by the planning committee.

The event is a collaborative project developed by the Tulare County Gang Prevention Task Force — a coalition made up of the general public, media, local businesses, faith-based organizations, schools, non-profit organizations, community-based organizations, local government and law enforcement agencies.

For more information, call Jed Chernabaeff, 636-5000.