FRESNO
LEADERS TO 'CATAPULT' VALLEY TEENS
Great Central Valley teen
leadership program kicks-off with study
of public policy
MODESTO, California, August 1,
2002 – When you were in
high school, how did you spend the last
days of summer? In the mountains? On the
coast? How about boning up on some of
the most complex public policy issues
facing the Valley?
For 36 enterprising Central Valley teenagers,
the dog days of August signal the kickoff
of a new ten-month leadership program
focused on diverse topics such as health
care, agriculture, the environment, and
the local economy. Their fun begins on
August 5 with a four-day Fresno retreat
introducing them to issues and the people
behind them.
The CATAPULT program is a first-of-its-kind
effort to help Valley high school students
learn to influence, and eventually become,
decisionmakers in their communities. This
is CATAPULT’s inaugural year and
is a partnership effort between the Great
Valley Center and the California Center
for Civic Participation and Youth Development.
Hosted on the Fresno State campus by
the Kenneth L. Maddy Institute of Public
Affairs, the high school students will
receive training and have the chance to
discuss topics with dozens of Fresno business,
non-profit and community leaders. Local
leaders slated to work with the CATAPULT
teens include Supervisor Juan Arambula;
Fresno Regional Foundation Exec. Dir.
Jesse Arreguin; and Deborah Nankivell,
Exec. Dir. of the Fresno Business Council.
After the retreat, the teens –
who were drawn from Valley communities
stretching from Redding to Bakersfield
– will return home and assess their
own communities through peer focus groups
and interviews with their local leaders.
Influential adult mentors will guide them
along the way. “We made a point
of including more than just the straight-A
students or football team captains,”
said Jim Muldavin, Executive Director
of the California Center, “Instead,
we looked for young people with untapped
potential.”
A second session slated for Sacramento
in December will enable the students to
apply what they have learned at the state
policy level. In the spring, they will
then be responsible for enlisting a group
of peers in a service project related
to their issue. In addition to a $1000
stipend for participating, graduates of
the program who later enroll in college
will be eligible to receive a $3000 scholarship
from The James Irvine Foundation’s
Educational Incentive.
The Great Valley Center is a private,
non-profit organization that supports
efforts to improve the economic, social
and environmental well-being of California’s
Great Central Valley. The California Center
for Civic Participation and Youth Development
is a nonprofit, non partisan civic participation
organization striving to engage youth
in the democratic process and encourage
their healthy development.
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Media Contact:
Richard Cummings
(209) 522-5103
