2008 Youth Summit Review

By: Maddie Cave, Bearden High School

    For those of you who slept in on Saturday, April 5th, you missed one fun and productive day. With over 250 attendees and over 800 hours of community service this year's youth produced over 3,000 ribbons for Child Abuse Awareness, filled one whole dumpster with trash from cleanup at Third Creek, provided groceries to over 300 families, made coloring kits for patients at Children's Hospital, and supported the March of Dimes and the Children's Center of Knoxville's annual fundraising events.
    Additionally, students of different backgrounds from various schools came together and shared ideas to combat stereotyping in our community. My group in particular determinedthat the base of judgement comes from the media as well as from upbringing. To help decrease stereotype, we came up with a plan to promote icebreaking activities in schools. Furthermore, other groups formed ideas like starting a county-wide summer camp to allow students to meet others and spend time with kids from different neighborhoods. 
    Lastly, a group of about 20 students gathered into a room to discuss the popular issue of underage drinking on school campus. Are you aware that students drink in their cars before school? Or that some students fill their water bottles with vodka? We saw the shocked looks on some of the school board reps' faces as we informed them of some of the things we have seen at school.
    Needless to say, the 2008 Knoxville Youth Summit was a huge success, which would not have been possible without our helpful volunteers and our motivated students. I saw several students leave at the end of the day with smiles on their faces knowing that they have made a difference in the community, whether that is feeding needy families or supporting fundraisers for noble causes. Our theme, Tied Together, fit perfectly with our mission: to unite Knoxville's youth, and work together to touch lives all over the community.