MD Middle School Youth Council: Plans for the New Year
By Melor Suhaimi, MD Programs Manager
Photos Courtesy of Melor Suhaimi, MD Programs Manager
It’s the first month of the new year and our MD Middle School Youth Council has already begun planning for the rest of the school year! The meeting took place on Saturday, January 10th. Below, Melor, AALEAD’s MD Programs Manager, interviewed 2 MD MS Youth Council members, Rachel K. and Fucheng L., to get the latest updates from AALEAD’s MD MS Youth Council.
M: Thanks for joining me today, Rachel and Fucheng! What were some of the highlights from today’s meeting?
R: I like how we got to share our thoughts on how to improve AALEAD’s booth at Fiesta Asia. (Fiesta Asia Street Fair is an event that takes place in Washington D.C. in May held by Asia Heritage Foundation.) Every year at Fiesta Asia, we have the AALEAD booth to attract people to learn more about AALEAD and different Asian countries. Last year, the MD MS Youth Council made a trivia wheel with questions about different Asian countries. This year the booth will be like an AALEAD museum! It will have traditional clothing, writing, and games from different Asian countries.
F: We also talked about the Youth Summit. For the past few years, in the summer, AALEAD’s HS youth led and planned a Youth Summit. This year, MS youth will help with the Summit, too!
R: Each school also planned an in-class Student Service Learning activity during the meeting. For example, Argyle MS Youth Council Leaders decided that they’ll be making bookmarks for teachers. And since Martin Luther King, Jr. Day is coming up, the bookmarks will have a space for teachers to write a dream or goal they’d like to achieve. And it’ll have a special message encouraging them to read!
M: To you, what does it mean to be a leader and a member of AALEAD’s MD MS Youth Council?
F: To be a leader is to communicate well with others and to lead your group members to success. And to work well with others.
R: To be a youth council member, you get to be the voice of your school’s AALEAD program and you get to speak up for them.
M: One word to describe how you’re feeling for the rest of the school year as part of AALEAD’s MD MS Youth Council.
R: Excited!
F: Hopeful!
