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My name is Frankie. I’m 16 years old and getting ready for my junior year of high school. I wanted to share my experience with an amazing program called Youth Action for Health Leadership (YAHL).

When I first learned about YAHL, I was intrigued. It offered a chance to truly make a difference in my community, which resonated with me. Plus, I’ve always been passionate about health, so joining YAHL felt like a natural fit.

My journey with YAHL began with a training session at my high school. There, I learned about two impactful campaigns: CounterAct Tobacco and Elevate Student Health. These initiatives aim to address pressing health issues affecting young people like us.

Let’s start with CounterAct Tobacco. This campaign focuses on combating underage tobacco and vape use. We’re working hard to make it more difficult for minors to access these harmful products. That means advocating for stricter regulations and better enforcement to prevent tobacco and vape sales to young people. But it’s not just about rules and regulations – we’re also raising awareness about the risks of tobacco and vaping by talking to people in our communities about how they can help support the campaign. 

Then there’s Elevate Student Health. This campaign aims to promote wellness among students through physical activity and healthy eating. We believe that a healthy lifestyle is essential for success, both in and out of the classroom. So, we’re advocating for more opportunities for physical activity in schools and communities. We’re also working to make healthier food options more accessible in school cafeterias and vending machines because we know that good nutrition is crucial for overall well-being.

Being part of YAHL has been an amazing experience so far. Not only have I learned a lot about public health and advocacy, but I’ve also had the opportunity to make a real impact in my community. And if you’re passionate about health and want to make a difference too, I highly recommend joining YAHL. Together, we can create a healthier future for all of us.

I am Lacey Laymon, a senior at Keys High School, and I have been a member of Youth Action for Health Leadership (YAHL) for two years. Currently, I serve on the state leadership team.

YAHL actively engages in two youth-led campaigns: Elevate Student Health, which focuses on maintaining the health of our schools, and CounterAct Tobacco, which aims to eliminate youth tobacco use in the community. Throughout my involvement in YAHL, I have had numerous opportunities, including delivering presentations to local boards in my community to raise awareness about youth tobacco use. Additionally, I have met with my principal to address outdated wellness policies and participated in an event promoting healthier eating habits among students.

One of the most memorable experiences I’ve had through YAHL was attending the Leadership Team Summit in Oklahoma City. This event allowed me to develop public speaking, leadership and networking skills. More importantly it provided an opportunity to form lifelong friendships. As a part of the leadership team, I had the privilege of visiting the Oklahoma State Capitol where I engaged in discussions about YAHL with policymakers and representatives. Our conversations centered around our two campaigns and how those in positions to effect direct change in our state could contribute.

In the upcoming year my goal is to be more involved in YAHL and actively recruit more individuals to join the organization. I initially joined YAHL for the free Subway sandwiches at our school’s training. I have witnessed the positive impact it had on both myself and others. My experience transformed me into a passionate advocate as it opened my eyes to the importance of having a voice in my community and contributing to the overall health of my state.

My name is Kaydence, and I attend Purcell High School. I first heard about Youth Action for Health Leadership (YAHL) from Aisha – one of the YAHL staff – in my class during school. To become a member of YAHL, I had to go to the training for YAHL members in the fall where we learned about important health issues and how to be active in the YAHL program at Purcell HS. I learned many things that I didn’t know about like the fact that one third of the youth in Oklahoma are overweight or obese. I was surprised by that! I honestly didn’t think it was going to be that bad. I also learned about the many negative effects of smoking and vaping and how the tobacco companies advertise to kids. I didn’t know that, and I wanted to do something about it. I wanted to help make a change.
I participated in opportunities for both the Elevate Student Health Campaign and the CounterAct Tobacco Campaign. I helped host our school’s Swap Up Day for Elevate Student Health as well as a Halloween event for CounterAct Tobacco. Swap Up Day took place during lunch at my school, and the Halloween event took place at the lake in my town. I had so much fun at these events!
The experience I got from the two events helped me grow more confident in what I was doing to help with YAHL and the important health issues in Oklahoma. I have seen many fellow classmates vape in school. I wish to see less of this in my community, and I want to help with this issue. I joined YAHL because I wanted to make a change within my community. Making a change within my community is important to me because I have seen the negative effects of smoking and vaping and what the effects have done to people within my family. 

My name is Mayra Amezcua, and I am a junior at Howe Public Schools. YAHL stands for Youth
Action for Health Leadership. YAHL has two campaigns – CounterAct Tobacco and Elevate
Student Health. CounterAct Tobacco is trying to reduce underage tobacco use while Elevate
Student Health is trying to increase access to healthy food and drinks and physical activity in
schools. Elevate Student Health surveys are targeted towards students and staff at schools and
CounterAct Tobacco surveys are targeted to community members and parents of youth.
I joined YAHL when it first came in 2021. Since then, I have been a part of the leadership team
for two years. As a YAHL member, I have attended multiple events with other YAHL members.
The opportunities I have participated in so far include a principal meeting, fall festival event,
YAHL Leadership Summit, SwapUp Day and Take Down Tobacco Day! These opportunities
help me with my public speaking skills, career skills and networking skills. YAHL opportunities
impact our progress for a healthier Oklahoma. Leading these opportunities helps to change
Oklahoma state policies by collecting measures of progress like surveys and pledge cards to
show support from our community members. I look forward to participating in podcasts, school
board meetings and partner presentations in the upcoming year. One thing about YAHL is that
no matter where you live in Oklahoma, you can spread awareness about health issues.
Everyone can relate to health issues in some way, whether it’s themselves or a friend or family
member. Spreading awareness to other people is one reason I continue to be a part of YAHL.
Another great thing about YAHL is that every voice matters! My voice mattering to someone
other than my family is my drive to keep spreading awareness about how we can create a
healthier Oklahoma. Most people are unaware of the problems students face daily. YAHL is so
important for the future generations. Thank you for supporting YAHL.

My name is Carina Chen. I am a junior at Classen SAS @NE High School and a member of the leadership team at Youth Action for Health and Leadership (YAHL).

I first heard about YAHL in my biomedical class from my Youth Field Organizer (YAHL supervisor), Beverly. During the training, Beverly educated me and many of my peers about the unhealthy rabbit holes that Oklahoma’s youth are vulnerable to. These include following an unhealthy diet with little to no physical exercise and carelessly abusing harmful and addictive nicotine products. I also learned of the two campaigns that YAHL focuses on: CounterAct Tobacco and Elevate Student Health.

The CounterAct Tobacco campaign works towards changing policies to restrict youth’s access to nicotine products. Personally, I know multiple students who use vapes and even actively sell vapes in their schools. The campaign collects surveys in the community to present statistical data to Oklahoma legislators and senators. During the St. Patrick’s Day CounterAct Tobacco event, I was tasked with asking strangers to fill out the survey. This was my first experience regularly talking to strangers, and although it was difficult at first, I came out a more confident person. 

The Elevate Student Health campaign works towards changing policies to allow students healthier options and health education in schools. This campaign also collects surveys. However, they are strictly from students, school staff and parents. In my school, which is in OKCPS, students have complete access to water fountains, healthy options at lunch and are required to have one physical education credit to graduate. However, after attending the YAHL leadership team summit, I have seen many different student perspectives. YAHL is unique in that it connects students across the state and provides opportunities to students in rural areas. During the summit, other students shared their experiences about unsafe water fountains, very limited food options and no time allotted for movement. I have learned about the scarcity of healthy options and education in the underfunded schools outside of the city. 

I joined YAHL to have a bigger impact whilst being involved in my community. Additionally, YAHL is amazing for expanding viewpoints and improving one’s communication, leadership and public speaking skills. Youth activism is important because the younger generation needs to be prepared to take on the bigger challenges of the future.

My name is Braden Mensack. I am a senior from Keys High School and have been
advocating through the Youth Action for Health Leadership (YAHL) program for almost two
years. YAHL is a youth-led advocacy organization focused on improving the health and
well-being of youth in the state of Oklahoma. I decided that I needed to join the YAHL program
because I felt that it was my duty to make a difference and spark change within my community,
but I knew I couldn’t do it alone. The YAHL program became the perfect way for me to make a
difference while helping myself, and not to mention, have fun! The two issues that I see above
all else in my generation’s youth are their seemingly obligatory tendency to follow what everyone
else is doing and their decreased care for their own bodies. Both of these issues are
becoming increasingly more relevant from generation to generation.

First, people within my age group, based on what I have seen from my friends and peers,
have an almost indescribable desire or need to do whatever the people around them are doing; an example of this would be everyone wearing the same new shoes. This is obviously unhealthy as it deflects individualization which, in turn, creates situations in which youth believe that if they do not fit in with these social spaces, they are less than. But, more specifically, this is unhealthy for physical health with vaping becoming such an epidemic, and youth today believe that they are not “cool” if they don’t vape. YAHL has stepped in to fight this youth desire to be like everyone else by combating the vaping epidemic; more specifically, we, as youth advocates, fight these issues that we see on a legislative level. A change in legislation that puts power back into local communities’ hands and prevents big tobacco companies from selling to minors would change the youth’s mentality on what the people around them are doing and would promote the individualization of my generation.

Second, my generation has shown a significant decrease in the care of their health when
compared to other generations. I have seen this within my own school through the increased use of both alcohol and vapor products by my peers. This also goes to show how far the effects of a lack of youth individualization can go; the increase in the desire to be like others creates a decrease in the care and well-being of our own bodies. As an organization of youth fighting for youth, we must continue to go against the grain and continue to fight these harmful trends on a legislative level in order to change the actions and outcomes of our own generation.

With our generations becoming ever more connected, we must remember that at the end
of the day, we’re the same humans as those one hundred years ago. Though the increase in social media and pop culture trends has shifted our viewpoints from that of an individualistic standpoint to that of a cultural one, we must sit back and remember that, at the end of the day, we’re all just human. We must use organizations such as YAHL to advocate and raise awareness of these increasing social issues and fight them at the source–before they become an issue for future generations. The YAHL program has given me great advocacy opportunities and I have already begun to see the changes reflected in not only my peers, but also my school as a whole.