Division of Youth Services
Commission on Youth Awards 2011
Spring Newsletter 2011 | Commission on Youth
Salt Lake County Mayor Peter Corroon recently presented the 2011 COY (Commission on Youth) awards. COY is a Mayor appointed board comprised of 32 individuals in business, government, school districts, and the community to advocate for youth policies. Each year they recognize youth and groups that work with youth to honor their efforts.
This year’s winners include the following:
Individual Adult: Chloe Noble for advocacy work for homeless people in Utah, including educating policy makers and volunteering on average of 80-100 hours a week with the Utah Pride Center over the past 3 years. Noble presents at conferences, trains professionals, and facilitates a group at the Homeless Youth Resource Center. She helps homeless youth express themselves through art which has been displayed and sold in a local art studio. Noble also started the nonprofit Operation Shine America (OSA) to raise awareness about the homeless youth epidemic in America. During her first campaign she walked across the country and stayed with homeless youth in several cities to get a firsthand look at their experiences and environments they were living in.
Adult Group: Spy Hop Productions for providing 1,000 youth each year with safe after-school and summer mentoring programs for K-12youth by teaching the students emerging digital technologies and media arts. Skills youth learn include: critical thinking, problem solving, communication, collaboration, media literacy, positive youth development, leadership, and creativity. Spy Hop makes every effort to reach youth by teaching classes at their facility, at after school programs and also trainings for teachers. Spy Hop has partnered with Youth Services after school programs for 4 years and collaborated on a service learning project focused on bullying, gangs and dating violence prevention by producing films about these issues.
Individual Youth: Lidia Mejia for being an exceptional student and leader at Murray High School. She currently serves as the Vice President of Keystone,a leadership group through the Boys & Girls Club. Mejia has participated, planned and facilitated Suicide Prevention HOPE groups, has been a member of the Murray High’s Peer Leadership Team, organized and lead collecting donations for Murray High’s coat drive and has been instrumental in helping to plan the Community Service Day at the high school. Lidia has overcome many health issues and shares her story to empower others to be strong.
Youth Group: The Peer Leadership Team (PLT)
at Murray High School for organizing powerful prevention campaigns that engage the entire student population. The PLT students head up Red and Yellow Ribbon week campaigns (Drug and Suicide prevention) to raise awareness and provide support for students who may be struggling with these challenges. During the annual Friendship Week, the PLT promotes unity among the student body by giving opportunities for peers to support each other through group activities. Murray High School’s PLT were pioneers in implementing a Teen Dating Violence Awareness program. Their desire to increase awareness and prevent teen dating violence has created a ripple effect that now involves several other schools around the valley and creative media competitions to promote healthy relationships.
Congratulations to the award winners and many thanks for making our youth and our community better!