Y2Y Health Summit empowers youth as educators and students
A total of 90 students from 11 schools attended this year’s event, surpassing last year’s virtual Y2Y Health Summit.
Los Angeles Trust for Children’s Health held the annual Youth-to-Youth (Y2Y) Health Summit last month on April 1, 2022 at the Los Angeles Trade Technical College. The free conference is led by youth, for youth, and offers workshops that focus on total health and wellness for the body, mind and soul. The event aims to elevate youth voices and give students an opening to connect with each other through health.
A total of 90 students from 11 schools attended this year’s event, surpassing last year’s virtual Y2Y Health Summit. “This is a huge accomplishment for being our first ever event since COVID quarantine,” said Robert Renteria, The L.A. Trust’s senior program manager who helped facilitate the gathering. This year’s Y2Y Health Summit was filled with students sharing information on sexual and reproductive health, HPV vaccination, substance use prevention, and mental health.
The Health Summit’s workshops focused on nutrition and mental health, reproductive rights, stress and mental health, substance abuse, oral health, and community building through creative arts and social justice.
We were proud to have Taaliyah Tucker at this year’s Y2Y Health Summit as the keynote speaker. Ms. Tucker is a former member of the “Wash Squad” Student Advisory Board (SAB) at Washington Preparatory High School. She graduated last year and today she attends Los Angeles Trade Tech where she is studying culinary arts.
When we first met Ms. Tucker she did not enjoy public speaking and could not imagine herself volunteering to speak to a group of students. However, through her work in the “Wash Squad” she became an excellent ally and mental health advocate for students. Ms. Tucker was also instrumental in our outreach to students focusing on substance use and tobacco prevention while working closely with Children’s Hospital Los Angeles. Her message in the keynote was to “be your authentic self.”
We would like to thank everyone who helped make this event a success, including LAUSD staff, and members of The L.A. Trust’s Student Advisory Boards from the Belmont, Carson, Crenshaw, Elizabeth Learning Center, Fremont, Hollywood, Jefferson, Jordan, Locke, Monroe and Santee campuses.
The Y2Y Health Summit would not be possible without our generous partners including LA County Department of Mental Health, LA Trade Tech, Children’s Hospital of Los Angeles, Dairy Council of California, Essential Access Health, Reach LA, Planned Parenthood Los Angeles, CalMHSA, LA Unified School District, F*ck Cancer, Student Health and Human Services, and the Wellness Networks of LAUSD.