To be held at Genesis Church, 1800 Woodland Drive, Antioch. For more information visit ANTIOCH YOUTH SPEAK! Pizza w/ the Chief | Facebook.

Antioch 8th grader Jared E. Clark honored with Rising Star for Perseverance Award

On April 4, 2023, the Contra Costa County Board of Supervisors honored César E. Chávez’s legacy and a group of students as part of the Youth Hall of Fame Award during the 29th Annual César E. Chávez Commemorative Celebration. This year’s theme was Hope and Healing – Esperanza y Bienestar. (See event video here)

The festival featured keynote speaker Genoveva Garcia Calloway, a community leader, former Mayor of San Pablo and behavioral health professional, who shared her perspective on César E. Chávez’s legacy. The event included a presentation of the 2023 Youth Hall of Fame Awards to students who have made outstanding community contributions, live performances by Mariachi Monumental and Ballet Folklórico Netzahualcoyotl, and celebratory remarks from members of the Board of Supervisors.

2023 Youth Hall of Fame Award Winners

Rising Stars

Perseverance – Jered E. Clark 

Jered Clark currently attends Black Diamond Middle School in Antioch where he holds a 4.0 GPA and will be graduating with his 8th grade class at the end of this school year. He is a self-motivated person who is determined, outgoing, intelligent, and a stand-up scholar. He takes initiative to work on his assignments as well as his extracurricular activities which include volunteering with local nonprofits and playing volleyball.  (See the 56:48 mark of the event video for Jered’s introduction by Supervisor Diane Burgis and his remarks)

At two years of age, Jered was a victim of child neglect and diagnosed with behavioral challenges. After tragically losing his parents to domestic violence, he entered the foster care system. Today he faces obstacles head on, remains focused and determined to overcome barriers. His perseverance at just 14 years old clearly shows he has a bright future ahead of him. 

Teamwork – Zihan Cherry Chou

Zihan Cherry Chou is an 8th grade honor student at Adams Middle School in Brentwood. She has been volunteering with NAMI Contra Costa for over 4 years and has been invaluable to their organization and the clients they serve. Cherry has a kind and gentle spirit and is always eager to assist where she can. She is a glowing example of the characteristics you hope to see in both youth and adults.

Cherry is passionate about building mental health friendly communities and works to eliminate mental health stigma and discrimination. She is non-judgmental and recognizes love and compassion should be shown to those impacted by mental health challenges. Cherry is part of NAMI’s Outreach Team which provides services and supplies for those who are unsheltered. She helps distribute food, personal hygiene products, and aids with their pets as well.

Cherry has been a presenter at NAMI Contra Costa Suicide Prevention events and advocates for youth mental health in all her activities. While Cherry is warm-hearted and a happy child, she has also experienced an emotionally trying time in her life. She immigrated from China to the United States with her parents when she was 7 years old. Adapting to an unfamiliar environment, with language barriers and cultural differences was challenging. She experienced repeated bullying in elementary school. Remaining optimistic, she got through this time in her life with bravery and strength. She doesn’t want others to experience what she did, so she makes it a point to welcome new students and takes initiative to introduce them to their new school.

Leadership & Civic Engagement – Carter Considine

Carter Considine is a 9th grade student from Lafayette and has started three organizations with helping the community in mind, Teen Art Market, Meaningful Teen, and Humon.

When Carter started Teen Art Market, it was inspired by local youth artists needing to promote their work. Teen Art Market is an online platform that allows teen artists to share their work and connect directly with art enthusiasts, buyers, and other artists.

Carter also co-founded an online nonprofit called Meaningful Teens during the pandemic. Unable to continue the weekly in-person ELL tutoring program at the senior center in Walnut Creek, it became virtual. Since then, the program includes 1,800 + youth tutors and 800+ students, many of the tutors are based in Contra Costa County.  Now, tutors are paired up with other non-profits, educational institution serving low-income communities increasing their footprint and positively impacting the lives of many other young people.

Today, Carter is starting an app, Humon, linking people with different perspectives to come into community by identifying commonalities. This app works with a wrist device that lights up when people nearby have certain commonalities, expected to be available on the Apple app store very soon.

Volunteerism – Makenzie Lee Foster

Makenzie is a homeschooled straight A 6th grade student who balances her school time with acting, writing books, and volunteering to read books to others. 

Makenzie has written three books, two of which have been published and available on Amazon. She embodies what she writes about in her books; Kickin’ it With Kenzie – What’s Meant for Me Will Be, Kickin’ it with Kenzie – Luckily My Luck is Me! And Seeing Me is Believing in Me!

Makenzie has partnered with First 5 of California and has visited over 20 classrooms as well as UCSF Children’s Hospital.  She visits with the children and reads her books to them, sharing how important it is to foster a love of reading and encouraging them to follow their dreams. With each visit, she donates copies of her book along with mini bookmarks and encourages kids to create their own stories.

Good Samaritan – Gianna Baglieri

Gianna is a 3rd grade student at Rio Vista Elementary in Bay Point. According to those who know her, Gianna demonstrates excellent problem-solving skills and leadership for such a young age. She is a kind friend and cares for others. She befriends new students, so they won’t feel alone. 

High School Awardees

Leadership & Civic Engagement – Anay Pant

Anay Pant is an 11th grade student at Athenian School in Danville, and from the start, it was abundantly clear that he had a keen interest in being engaged with his community. Anay has been involved in a host of activities in which he has eagerly volunteered for.  

It started on Election Day 2022 when Anay volunteered to be a poll watcher in Contra Costa County and his engagement only gained momentum since.   With a keen interest in getting more young people tuned into what’s happening around them, he developed an app called Qrated, to keep his peers up to date on local events. Along with his app, Anay is planning a TEDx talk to promote the app to students around the Bay Area. Additionally, he will be hosting a Youth TEDx forum at Athenian to encourage his young peers to lean into civic engagement at the local level. 

Anay is a natural leader amongst his peers and inspires others with his energy and tenacity to do good in his community.

Teamwork – Prisha Purohit

San Ramon Valley High School Junior Prisha Purohit is no stranger to working with others. She is actively engaged with several school and community organizations that are dedicated to the betterment of her peers and the community at large. Prisha serves on the executive board for the Golden Bear Foundation and as President of the Danville Chapter. GPF is a charitable organization, founded by high school students, that helps provide care to economically disadvantaged persons through charitable giving. Prisha worked alongside other members to organize clothing and school supply drives for local families in need.

Prisha supports other students at her high school by providing clarity and bringing them closer to their academic goals as a peer tutor. She provides a reassuring voice to students who start the year late, helping them catch up with their classmates. Prisha has also created a school club for lovers of tea and philosophy. Cleverly named Philosotea, members meet over lunch and are encouraged to sample new teas and discuss philosophical ideas, concepts, and media.

Outside of school, Prisha volunteers her time as part of the local library’s Teen Advisory Club. As a teen advisor, she works with library staff to develop teen programs, expand the young adult collections, and improve services the library can offer teens.

Perseverance – Anayely Arreola Caldera

Anayely has been described as a fighter. She has not had an easy path in her young life. Through her encounters growing up she decided early on to see herself through adversity and was determined to become a success story. Anayely is in her senior year at Liberty High School in Brentwood and will be the first in her family to attend college.

Anayely is also the first in her family to play a competitive sport. She runs track on Liberty High’s team and always looks forward to training. She continues to push herself to do her best when she’s out on the track, for both her and her teammates. Participating and playing a sport is truly a privilege not lost on Anayely and she recognizes that not all kids have the opportunity to do so. Anayely can often be found spending her extra time in school clubs and sports as she is working to help support herself through college with a track scholarship.  

In addition to her love for track, Ana’s favorite subject is English. Her goal is to be a lawyer and she notes that the reading comprehension and critical thinking skills learned in English will be invaluable to her future career path. Anayely understands the power of being a role model to her younger sister. She strives to show her sister that you can achieve anything you set your mind to.  

Volunteerism – Frances Kellman-Lima

Frances Kellman-Lima is a Senior at El Cerrito High School, where she consistently achieves top grades and is involved in a wide range of extracurricular activities. She acts as a Peer Counselor and Conflict Mediator, and was selected as a “Culture Keeper” mentor. Culture Keepers are youth leaders trained in dynamic mindfulness and restorative practices who work to transform the school’s culture and put an end to the “school-to-prison pipeline.”

For the last year and a half, Frances has been a standout voice on the topic of teen dating violence. She began as a member of a school-led support group, before joining Contra Costa County’s Youth Against Violence leadership group. She regularly goes out of her way to help other leaders in the group, presents great ideas, and displays strong leadership skills. Frances also takes time to volunteer at a preschool, specifically working with children who are living with intellectual and developmental delays.

Outside of school and volunteering, Frances has taken a Latino psychology class and was a teaching assistant for a cognitive neuroscience class at UC Berkeley, both of which she hopes to utilize for helping others.

Good Samaritan – Aria Capelli

Aria is co-founder of a non-profit called Meaningful Teens which connects teens with volunteer opportunities where they can make a real difference. Meaningful Teens offers a literacy and math platform Aria created which has been a wonderment in this time of COVID-19. Her compassion to help the underserved and to lead a group of young people from diverse backgrounds to reach a common goal has been remarkable.

Fueled by a passion to meet the needs of others, Aria saw opportunities in the distant learning modality even as others viewed its limitations. She recognized the hardships and life challenges that low-income families and immigrants face. Being open-minded, she brought her vision of bringing literacy and math instruction over a Zoom one-to-one platform to reality by tutoring underserved students in low-income housing, immigrants, and refugee communities. To ensure the quality of the lessons, she recruited credentialed teachers to roam the breakout rooms, while Aria aided anyone in need of help, thus providing on-the-spot solutions to problems.

Over the past three years Meaningful Teens has grown from a small project with four friends to a huge success with over 1,900 high school and college volunteer tutors from around the United States with almost 1,500 student-learners worldwide. As Meaningful Teens continues to expand and grow, Aria keeps the students, and their needs, at the forefront. 

For more information about the event see 29th César E. Chávez  Program

Allen D. Payton contributed to this report.

Presented by Tackle Warehouse

OAKLEY, Calif. (April 24, 2023) – The Liberty/Heritage High School Team of Noah Nguyen and Tyler Petersen, both of Antioch, California, brought five bass to the scale Saturday weighing 17 pounds, 12 ounces, to win the second, and final, MLF High School Fishing Presented by Favorite Fishing Open on the California Delta Presented by Tackle Warehouse event of the year in Oakley, California.

A field of 33 teams competed in the no-entry fee tournament, which launched from Russo’s Marina in Bethel Island. In MLF High School Fishing competition, the top 10% of teams competing advance to the High School Fishing National Championship.

The top three teams that qualified for the 2023 High School Fishing National Championship are:

1st: Liberty/Heritage High School – Noah Nguyen and Tyler Peterson, both of Antioch, Calif., five bass, 17-12

2nd: Casa Roble Fundamental – Ian Peatross and Preston Schweiger, both of Citrus Heights, Calif., four bass, 17-5

3rd: Lake County High School Fishing Club – Tyler Bryant and Joey Gentle, both of Kelseyville, Calif., five bass, 16-9

Rounding out the top 10 teams were:

4th: Lake County High School Fishing Club – Payton Lyndall, Kelseyville, Calif., and Kaine Navarro, Glendora, Calif., five bass, 16-6

5th: Hughson High School – Logan Dekleva and Landon Mason, both of Hughson, Calif., five bass, 14-8

6th: Delta Saints Bass Team – Jax Soto, Courtland, Calif., and Nathan Tritt, West Sacramento, Calif., five bass, 14-1

7th: Delta Saints Bass Team – Zachary Carli, Ryde, Calif., and Jake Feldheim, West Sacramento, Calif., five bass, 13-11

8th: Liberty High School – J.D. Farage, Discovery Bay, Calif., and Fisher Perkins, Rocklin, Calif., five bass, 13-7

9th: Hughson High School – Hunter Cook, Hickman, Calif., and Cooper Scarbrough, Hughson, Calif., five bass, 13-4

10th: Oakdale High School – Troy Cox and Zane Ravalin, both of Oakdale, Calif., five bass, 11-12

Complete results from the event can be found at MajorLeagueFishing.com.

MLF High School Fishing Presented by Favorite Fishing tournaments are free, two-person (team) events for students in grades 7-12 and are open to any MLF and TBF Student Angler Federation-affiliated high school club. The top 10% of teams at each Open event, along with the TBF High School Fishing state championships, will advance to the 2023 High School Fishing National Championship. The 2023 MLF High School Fishing National Championship will be held on the Mississippi River in La Crosse, Wisconsin, June 20-24, and is hosted by Explore La Crosse.

The High School Fishing National Champions will each receive a $5,000 college scholarship to the school of their choice and advance to the 2023 MLF Toyota Series Championship to compete as co-anglers.

Proud sponsors of the 2023 MLF High School Fishing Presented by Favorite Fishing include: 4WP, 13 Fishing, Abu Garcia, B&W Trailer Hitches, Black Rifle Coffee Company, E3, Favorite Fishing, Fox Rent a Car, General Tire, Grundens, Lawless Lures, Lew’s, Lowrance, Mercury, Mossy Oak, Onyx, Phoenix, Polaris, Power-Pole, Strike King, Tackle Warehouse, T-H Marine, Wiley X and YETI.

For complete details and updated tournament information, visit MajorLeagueFishing.com. For regular High School Fishing updates, photos, tournament news and more, follow MLF5’s social media outlets on Facebook, Instagram and YouTube.

About Major League Fishing

Major League Fishing (MLF) is the world’s largest tournament-fishing organization, producing more than 250 events annually at some of the most prestigious fisheries in the world, while broadcasting to America’s living rooms on CBS, the Discovery Channel, the Outdoor Channel, CBS Sports Network, the World Fishing Network and on-demand on MyOutdoorTV (MOTV). Headquartered in Benton, Kentucky, the MLF roster of bass anglers includes the world’s top pros and more than 30,000 competitors in all 50 states and 13 countries. Since its founding in 2011, MLF has advanced the sport of competitive fishing through its premier television broadcasts and livestreams and is dedicated to improving the quality of life for bass through research, education, fisheries enhancement and fish care.

Major League Fishing – WE ARE Bass Fishing™

Experience the world without leaving your home

By Meaghan Airey, AKCG – Public Relations Counselors

NEW YORK, New York – In an age when international relations are often tenuous, AFS-USA Intercultural Programs, a leader in international high school student exchange for 75 years, is focused on providing opportunities for intercultural exchange that can help lead to a more just and peaceful world. 

AFS-USA invites families and individuals from the San Francisco area and surrounding communities to become hosts for international students for 12 weeks, a semester, or an academic year.

Hosting provides individuals, families, high schools, and communities with opportunities to learn about the unfamiliar by exploring a diversity of cultures, all while sharing their own culture with a young person from a different country.

“AFS-USA nurtures active global citizens who make the world a better place,” AFS-USA President and CEO Tara Hofmann said. “Every new AFS student is another global citizen in progress—an individual primed to help build a more just world that reflects peace and fellowship. The impact doesn’t stop with the students. Host families’ lives are transformed by students from across the globe and host communities gain greater cultural diversity.”

Exchange students represent nearly 80 countries and cultures, including Kenya, Ukraine, Egypt, Türkiye, Italy, Germany, Chile, Thailand and more. They are among the more than 1,000 international AFS students hosted in the U.S. each year.

AFS-USA host families represent a broad range of U.S. cultures, including individuals and families of multi-national/ethnic backgrounds, those with and without children, those who are members of the LGBTQ+ community, and more.

In addition, AFS-USA has a more than 50-year partnership with the U.S. Department of State’s Bureau of Educational and Cultural Affairs (ECA), which offers numerous sponsored scholarships for international students to study abroad in the U.S. including the following programs:

• Kennedy-Lugar Youth Exchange and Study (KL-YES): Through the U.S. Department of State’s YES program, high school students from countries with significant Muslim populations live and study for an academic year in the United States. Participants live with a host family, attend an American high school, acquire leadership skills, and engage in activities to learn about U.S. society and values; they also help educate Americans about their home country and culture. 
• Congress-Bundestag Youth Exchange (CBYX): Jointly funded and managed by the U.S. Department of State and German government, CBYX provides full scholarships for German students to live and study abroad in the U.S. for an academic year. Participants live with a host family, attend an American high school, acquire leadership skills, and engage in activities to learn about U.S. society and values; they also help educate Americans about Germany and German culture.
• Future Leaders Exchange (FLEX): Through the U.S. Department of State’s FLEX program, high school students from Europe and Eurasia live and study for an academic year in the United States. Participants live with a host family, attend an American high school, acquire leadership skills, and engage in activities to learn about U.S. society and values; they also help educate Americans about their home country and culture. 

Once students and host families are matched, they receive ongoing support from trained staff and are welcomed into their local chapter of dedicated volunteers, alumni, and fellow host families. One thing that sets AFS-USA apart is the network of almost 3,000 volunteers throughout the U.S. Many volunteers have hosted international exchange students or studied abroad with AFS and will support families, students, and schools in gaining the most from their hosting experience.

Hosts are expected to provide their student(s) with a bed, meals and support and encouragement throughout their program. Students arrive with their own spending money and medical coverage.

“These students attend local high schools, participate in local community life, and are encouraged to share aspects of their culture,” Hofmann said. “They also discover first-hand what it’s like to live in America and form lasting friendships that create enduring links between the U.S. and other countries. In many cases, the bonds that form between AFS students and their host families last a lifetime.”

AFS-USA is the largest organization within the international AFS network that includes 54 partners around the globe.

For More Information 

Those interested in hosting an AFS Exchange Student are encouraged to contact 1-800-AFS-INFO or visit www.afsusa.org for more information. For those interested in studying abroad please browse our programs and apply now to start your journey. You can also get involved as an AFS-USA Volunteer. Visit www.afsusa.org/volunteer to get started or learn more about opportunities to make a difference.

Police seek suspects

By PIO Ashley Crandell, Antioch Police Community Engagement Unit

On April 4, 2023, at approximately 7:33 pm, the Antioch Police Department Communications Center began receiving calls regarding a shooting in the 5100 block of Carriage Way. Officers immediately responded to the scene and located an 18-year-old male with suffering from a gunshot wound to his leg.

Responding officers rendered medical aid until medical personnel arrived on scene and transported him to a local hospital. The victim is expected to survive. Through investigation, officers learned multiple unknown subjects were stealing several motorcycles in a driveway and when the victim exited the residence, the suspects began shooting at him.

The suspects were successful in stealing one of the motorcycles. The investigation is ongoing and anyone with information is encouraged to contact Detective Duffy at aduffy@antiochca.gov or (925) 779-6884. You may also text an anonymous tip to 274637 (CRIMES) using the keyword ANTIOCH.

Learn more at www.dreamteamantioch.org.