High school students intent on making a difference shine at annual Sun Youth Forum
Anaiya Parks, a 17-year-old junior at Legacy High School, was one of many students pre-registering to vote Thursday morning in the hallways of the Las Vegas Convention Center.
Even though the midterm elections have passed, and Parks is still too young to vote, signing up to fulfill their civic duty was paramount for the teens who attended the 62nd annual Sun Youth Forum. (Nevada allows voter pre-registration at age 17.)
More than 1,000 students from 52 high schools across the Las Vegas Valley came together at the forum to discuss everything from teen topics, like the legal drinking age, to law and crime, immigration and the U.S. government’s role in the world. Leaders in education, law enforcement, finance, journalism, the nonprofit sector and others served as moderators.
Las Vegas Sun founder Hank Greenspun started the event in 1955 to give the city’s young minds a platform for intelligent debate about issues relevant to their lives and far beyond. That first year, 96 students from five schools attended.
Parks, who phone-banked for Rep.elect Steven Horsford prior to this month’s elections and has ambitions to one day become speaker of the House, said becoming involved in the political process was the most significant way to influence change.
Ditto for Matthew Borello, 16, who moved to Las Vegas from New York last year and attends Palo Verde High School. A junior with ambitions to enroll at Columbia University and become an astrophysicist, Borello stood among 22 peers in a civics-based “America” session.
Debating in favor of civic engagement, Borello said NFL players’ protests during the national anthem was beneficial for its role in bringing light to issues of inequality.
“They’re being good American citizens,” he said. “It’s our duty to protest against a system we think is unfair.”
A dozen $1,000 scholarships were awarded to high school seniors, whose names were drawn from a drum during an afternoon lunch session by representatives from Barrick Gold USA, Nevada State Bank, UNLV and Touro University Nevada.
Tenors of Rock, a British band that performs at Harrah’s, performed for the students.
Metro Police Undersheriff Kevin