Jeanette Fine, center, of Canyon Springs High School, reacts to a comment on the Clark County School District dress code by Caitlin Diehl, second left, of Western High School, during the 2019 Las Vegas Sun Youth Forum at the Las Vegas Convention Center Wednesday, Nov. 13, 2019. Greta Peay, CEO/founder of Infinity: Diversity Matters, moderates at right.
Wednesday, Nov. 13, 2019 | 11:45 p.m.
High school students bustled out of mock classrooms Wednesday morning at the Las Vegas Convention Center, where they spent the day discussing solutions for issues facing the world — topics such as gun violence reform, inadequate funding for public schools and the power of social media.
When some students broke away for a 15-minute break at the 63rd annual Sun Youth Forum, three students from a law and crime forum gathered in the hallway, still absorbed in a conversation about gun violence and the recent sentencing of Amber Guyger, the former Dallas police officer who killed an innocent black man in his home.
Metro Police Undersheriff Kevin C. McMahill moderated the discussion. His one condition was for everyone to treat each other with “dignity and respect,” whether they agreed with one another or not.
Durango High School senior Blu-Caelidh Borda thought Guyger’s sentencing was fair, while students like Spring Valley junior Tacy Clifford and Southeast Career Technical Academy senior Ferdos Fessahyeh thought the sentencing was too lenient.
While the three didn’t see eye to eye, they were drawn to each other for their level-headed approach to debate, Borda said.
“It was nice meeting them,” Borda said. “I’m glad we found each other.”
Meahel Pitra, left, of the Las Vegas Academy, shows off his vocal skills with Celestia clown Pavel Mikhaylov at a lunch break during the 2019 Las Vegas Sun Youth Forum at the Las Vegas Convention Center Wednesday, Nov. 13, 2019. Performers from the Stratosphere's Celestia show provided the lunchtime entertainment.
Las Vegas Sun founder Hank Greenspun started the event in 1956 to give youth a forum for constructive discourse on topical issues relevant to their daily lives on the philosophy that adults should listen to young voices.
More than 1,000 students from 52 high schools participated Thursday in the 63rd edition of the event. It’s the longest program of its kind, said Hank’s son, Brian Greenspun.
“The youth forum was designed to take what (students) are thinking and present it to the rest of the community,” said Brian Greenspun, the Sun’s CEO, publisher and editor. “(They’re) giving us a glimpse of where this country is going.”
For Borda, who has plans a career in law enforcement, interacting students willing to talk through issues with a level head during such polarizing times was refreshing.
Bishop Gorman senior Madison Winston said the opinions she heard were “drastically different” from what she hears at school.
“Hearing (other students’) opinions on how to promote more awareness for mental health, or more awareness on how to be a good citizen and moralities was really interesting,” she said. “If we wanted to have these conversations at my school we definitely could, but it’s not something I would choose to talk about with my friends at lunch, so I don’t normally hear other people’s opinions on these topics.”
Chaparral senior Kory Schlax said he was surprised how he was able to find common ground with his peers.
“I thought for such a large group, the forum was very well-structured,” he said. “I hope we will be able to translate our ability to talk to our peers with how we talk to other generations.”
Brian Cram, left, Sun Youth Forum director, and Brian Greenspun, CEO, publisher and editor of the Las Vegas Sun, discuss how to pronounce a student's name as they give away college scholarships during the 2019 Las Vegas Sun Youth Forum at the Las Vegas Convention Center Wednesday, Nov. 13, 2019.
Durango junior Nseya Kimwanga hopes the forum will give more clout to student voices, especially in conversations about the funding issues plaguing Clark County School District.
Students like Kimwanga said their learning environments are hindered by large classroom sizes and the use of substitute teachers, many of whom aren’t qualified.
“There are a lot of very intelligent individuals who are in the room with me right now, and I think the open dialogue and discussions need to be taken seriously and the voices need to be heard,” she said. “We have this great event we’re at, but I really hope it doesn’t fall on deaf ears.”
The event also included entertainment from the performers at the new Strat production, Celestia. Additionally, a few students walked away with a scholarship, including Las Vegas Sun scholarship winners Harry Sho K. Aguinaldo (Spring Valley), Sonica Kazi (Del Sol), Tyler Lusvardi (Foothill) and Makayla Wijesinghe (Bishop Gorman).
Chris Heavey, the executive vice president and provost at UNLV, awarded scholarships to Josephine Dickens (Legacy), Cali Folau (Silverado) and Grinesa Bajrami (Southwest Career and Technical Academy).
The Shelley Berkley Scholarship Winner was Daniel Richard Little of West Career & Technical Academy, and Nevada State Bank gave scholarships to Emily Cooper (Legacy) and Lillian Torres (Green Valley). Those were presented by Craig Kirkland, the executive vice president, director of retail banking at Nevada State Bank.
Also, a student was selected by their peers from each group to be room representative. They include: Ana Campanico (Green Valley), Andres Carrasco (Spring Valley), Melanie Correa (Sunrise Mountain), Spencer Dee (Spring Valley), Vanessa Dominguez (Spring Valley), Jade Guzman (Cimarron-Memorial), Chantry Harris (Spring Valley), Wyatt Layland (Advanced Technologies Academy), Amelia Norman (Foothill), Tate Nowell (Bishop Gorman), Mohit Pande (Liberty), Liliana Pinto (Valley), Sara Ross (Coronado), Shreya Shauma (Palo Verde), Omar Terrones (Las Vegas), Nico Robert Spilker Villafuente (Advanced Technology Academy), Andrew Wilson (Liberty), Gavin Beaman (Arbor View), Akiya Dillon (Basic Academy), Alexander Leon (Veterans Tribute Career and Technical Academy), Neha Sarang (Coronado), Yaseen Shah (Advanced Technologies Academy), Surafael Tamre (Spring Valley), Tommy Anderson IV (Mojave), Kimberly Giannantonio (Coronado), Maryam Raja (Clark), Aliyah Bethea (Shadow Ridge), Anna Fudenberg (Northwest Career & Technical Academy).
