Creating My Y…Creating My Future
It all started with ties. That’s how Dora Soto, program director at the McDonald Community YMCA, describes their first-year Youth & Government group. The teenagers from Northside and O. D. Wyatt High School had signed up for the program and were gearing up for the District Conference where there is a strict dress code. Dora asked for ties at the next branch board meeting. Board chair Courtney Quiroga, director of community outreach at the law firm of Perdue, Brackett, Flores, Utt & Burns, seized on the request and flew into action.
The request for ties evolved into custom-made suits donated for each participant. Attorneys and other adults began volunteering their time to meet with the students. The students prepared for the District Conference and when the big day came, one by one, all of the volunteers stopped by to check on their students. After that, the students traveled with their Youth & Government peers to Austin for the State Conference where they participated in the legislative section, proposing, debating and voting on bills.
After the state conference, Attorney David Flores asked students what they learned. They talk about the art of persuasion. Denisha Greenwood spoke about changing a negative statement into a positive one. Chris Winston said understanding where other people are coming from is key. The students are self assured and articulate, and brimming with anticipation of the journey ahead for them. Regardless of their individual backgrounds, or challenges they have overcome, they are poised to become a new generation of leaders.
