2014 Youth Impact Award winners honored

LEGIT representatives at the awards ceremony 

Winners have been chosen for the 2014 Youth Impact Awards!

Winners this year included Ella Brewer of San Marcos High School, Fatima Cacho of Cabrillo High School, and the LEGIT Club of Righetti High School. Honorable mentions included Maria Frias of San Marcos High School, Diego Hernandez of Santa Maria High School, and Marcy Montano of Grizzly Academy.

These awards are presented to young people (ages 10 to 18) who have made a significant positive impact on their communities in Santa Barbara County. The winners receive a small monetary award, and all nominees receive a certificate of acknowledgement. An awards ceremony provides public recognition of their outstanding efforts.

A celebration to remember

These inspiring young people were celebrated at the Youth Impact Awards ceremony, held August 2, 2014 at the Santa Barbara County Education Office auditorium.  Catered refreshments were provided by students of the Probation Department’s Los Prietos Boys Camp Culinary Arts Program, and an honor guard from the Camp kicked off the ceremony with gusto. Remarks were offered by KIDS Network chair Barbara Finch and Santa Barbara County Supervisor Janet Wolf, among others. All nominees received certificates, and the winners presented highlights of their work in the community. Afterward, numerous elected officials or their representatives greeted these outstanding youth.

About the awards

Every year the KIDS Network – a countywide umbrella organization including members from public agencies, the courts, law enforcement, education, community-based organizations, school-linked programs and parent groups – honors young people for their contributions to their communities in Santa Barbara County. Nominations are received from members of the community, and all young people ages 10 through 18 living or attending school in Santa Barbara County qualify. Winners are chosen by a selection committee comprised of KIDS Network members who remain anonymous to ensure that the process is unbiased. The selection process was challenging due to the remarkable achievements of so many young people in the county.

Every nominee was impressive, and the selection committee would like to thank everyone who took the time to submit a nomination.

This year’s Youth Impact Awards celebration was made possible thanks to collaboration and support from members of the KIDS Network, including the Santa Barbara County Education Office and the Santa Barbara County Probation Department.

About the winners

Ella Brewer, a senior at San Marcos High, is motivated and passionate about helping others.  In 2013, she began observing the work of Drs. Jovanovic and Castorino of the Santa Barbara Public Health Department.  Every Tuesday for several hours she watched while the two doctors treated women with gestational diabetes.  From this experience she became interested in the Summer2Move teen wellness program.  With a focus on improving physical fitness and health literacy, participants become health advocates by adopting healthier lifestyles and motivating others to do the same.  Ella volunteered to assist the project coordinator with lectures covering diabetes, nutrition, exercise, stress management, and self-confidence.  While maintaining a 4.33 GPA, Ella is a student in the Santa Marcos Health Academy, at tutor at “The Village,” a lettered athlete on the Varsity soccer team, a member of the KIDS Helping Kids program, Link Crew and Junior Statesman of America’s Traveling Debate Cub.  In November of 2013, she traveled to Nicaragua for a week, to work with children living in safe houses and trash dumps.  In addition to these notable accomplishments, she continues her involvement at the Sansum Diabetes Research Institute by helping with the Seeds of Change program, a maternal health program designed to promote the health of women between pregnancies.  Ella is clearly on her way to reaching her lifetime goal of becoming a physician. 

Fatima Cacho is a senior at Cabrillo High School.  She has been serving on the Lompoc Youth Commission for the past two years.  In 2013, six members of the Youth Commission attended a Youth Leadership Conference in Bakersfield.  The impact on the Commissioners was such that they voted to host their own 2014 youth conference in Lompoc.  In the weeks following, Fatima approached the City’s staff liaison to request the position of Chair for the conference.  Fatima’s passion, with the help of other Youth Commissioners who worked on the event, ensured the event was a success.  She had a strong desire for every teen in Lompoc to have the opportunity to feel what it is like to attend a conference of this type.  On February 10th , a school holiday, 150 teenagers from Lompoc and the Santa Maria area took part in the TOTAL (Teaching our Teens as Leaders) conference, and it was a huge success.  Fatima took the lead on this new event, which required a lot of work and decision making.  Fatima has a special quality of giving that is evident in all she does. 

The Leaders Establishing Great Ideas 4 Tomorrow (LEGIT) Club at Righetti High School was formed by three students who had a desire to share what they learned at a summer leadership camp for foster youth in 2013.  This on-campus club allows students to express their frustration and find support in their peers experiencing similar challenges, whether in foster care or not.  The LEGIT Club offers support to the community off campus as well.  In December 2013, LEGIT members set up a “Reading Corner” at The Day of the Farm Worker event held at the Santa Maria Fair Park on December 8, 2013.  They took turns reading children’s books in Spanish and English to the children who joined their parents for this event.  Other LEGIT members helped families register and directed them to where services were being provided.  LEGIT recently submitted a grant proposal to help children in their community.  Youth Making Change granted LEGIT $1,900 to carry out their plans to host activities for low-income children throughout Santa Maria.  LEGIT started with a group of youth who were interested in learning about leadership, and ended up finding ways to use what they learned to help their peers and serve their community.