YAHL ❘ Lead the Effort and Become a Partner

My Goal? Stopping Big Tobacco! by Rhianna Dumas

My name is Rhianna Dumas and I’m 14. I was born in Guthrie, Oklahoma, and stayed there until I was 7, now I live in Oklahoma City. This past year I joined a program called YAHL. YAHL stands for Youth Action for Health Leadership and we work with TSET to get better health choices at school. For example, getting the water tested, having healthier options at lunch, and 60 minutes of activity. We also work to stop Big Tobacco from targeting teens. I joined YAHL because I knew that stopping Big Tobacco was important to me.

Stopping Big Tobacco is important to me because I’ve had family members use tobacco and the journey of healing from it was very hard. The tobacco campaign, Counter Act Tobacco, will help me accomplish my goal because we’ll be collecting surveys on people’s opinions about tobacco use in teens which can be used as data. The trainings we attend have helped my goal because it allowed me to become an official member and get one step closer to helping my community more.

My work toward my personal goal will help my community slowly work its way to being tobacco-free. There will eventually be less vaping in schools with my efforts. I hope to educate parents, who will hopefully open their eyes and see how dangerous tobacco truly is. Others in my community will finally be heard if they have the same thoughts as me, in the future. More voices can be heard and more people can be encouraged to make a change. Others in the community can join me in the work by spreading the word about what we’re doing and by using their voice like I am.

My Goal? Stopping Big Tobacco! by Rhianna Dumas

Giving a Voice to the Voiceless by My Nguyen

Hello, my name is My Nguyen, I am 15 and I live in Oklahoma City. I’m a member of YAHL, which stands for Youth Action for Health Leadership. In YAHL, we work on two youth-led campaigns: CounterAct Tobacco and Elevate Student Health. I joined YAHL because it is a really good way to help my […]

My Journey with YAHL by Mayra Amezcua

Hi, my name is Mayra and I’m from Howe Public Schools, I am currently 14 years old. I’m a part of an organization called Youth Action for Health Leadership or YAHL. I joined YAHL to try something new. When I joined I was hoping to gain leadership skills, better public speaking skills, and earn scholarships. […]

Working Hard to Make a Difference by Essence Felder

Why I Joined YAHL by Deiondra Howard

I am Deiondra Howard. I’m from Coalgate, Oklahoma and I’m currently 16 years old. I chose to join YAHL because I want to improve my community. As a teen, in high school, I am exposed to a lot of vaping on a daily basis. I think that YAHL can help to improve the problem of […]

Making a Difference in Coalgate, Oklahoma by Brecken Hunt

Hello everyone, my name is Brecken, I live in Atoka, but go to school in Coalgate, and I am 16. I work with a student-led organization called YAHL. YAHL stands for Youth Action for Health Leadership. I joined for two reasons. First, I wanted to have a bit of fun, and second, I want to […]

YAHL Impacts My Community for the Better by Carina Chen

Hello, my name is Carina Chen. I am fourteen years old, I am from Oklahoma, and last, but definitely not least, I am a member of the leadership team at YAHL. YAHL stands for Youth Action for Health and Leadership and they are a health activist group working towards two campaigns: Counteract Tobacco and Elevate […]

Being a YAHL Leadership Team Member – Casey Stewart

Hello, I’m Casey Stewart from Wynnewood High School. YAHL was introduced to our school around January of 2022. When I heard about YAHL, I initially signed up because I wanted prizes from the prize store, but during events and trainings I have grown to love everything about the program. My absolute favorite thing I have […]

Why Health Activism Matters to Me by Lauren Pinner

Hi my name is Lauren Pinner, I live in OKC, and I am 14 years old. Last year I joined the YAHL program at my school. Yahl is a youth leadership program, and we are trying to make Oklahoma a healthier place. I decided to join the yahl program because it has amazing goals and I believe that it can truly make a difference for our future generations. Health activism matters to me because many kids aren’t taught healthy habits at a young age, and teens are getting targeted by tobacco companies.

Why I Joined the YAHL Team

Giving a Voice to the Voiceless by My Nguyen

For CounterAct Tobacco we are working to promote comprehensive tobacco retail licensing. For example, we want to make sure all tobacco retailers have a license to sell vapes and e-cigs. I have seen teens accessing vapes from gas stations and from strangers and this is concerning to me. Smoking and vapes are the hardest to dodge when there are ads and access to them in gas stations and convenience stores is so easy. They always put beautiful colors and flavors in front of kids’ eye level. The flavors and vapes are often advertised as not being as bad as cigarettes, but vapes still contain toxic levels of nicotine when you smoke them. You are literally putting nickels and metals into your lungs – that’s dangerous.

For Elevate Student Health we are working to put healthy food options in schools and improve school wellness policies. I see that many schools in Oklahoma, especially in rural areas or small towns, don’t have access to clean drinking water, and healthy food options. I see easy access to junk food at school. For example, in school when they are selling foods for clubs, events, and fundraisers the majority of the time it is junk foods containing high calories and trans fats. Through Elevate Student Health we are working to create alternative healthy options like trail mix or fruits and vegetables. This may face some challenges, but it will feel good when I see my friends and teachers more active, happy, and healthy from the food they are eating.

With YAHL I will put a voice to the voiceless to help Oklahomans see that vapes are not safe and there are policies that can protect us. I want to help Oklahoma schools be the healthiest they can be. I hope that through my efforts members of my community can understand the dangers of tobacco and the importance of healthy schools.

My Goal? Stopping Big Tobacco! by Rhianna Dumas

Giving a Voice to the Voiceless by My Nguyen

My Journey with YAHL by Mayra Amezcua

Working Hard to Make a Difference by Essence Felder

Why I Joined YAHL by Deiondra Howard

Making a Difference in Coalgate, Oklahoma by Brecken Hunt

YAHL Impacts My Community for the Better by Carina Chen

Being a YAHL Leadership Team Member – Casey Stewart

Why Health Activism Matters to Me by Lauren Pinner

Why I Joined the YAHL Team

My Journey with YAHL by Mayra Amezcua

YAHL works with two campaigns. One of those two campaigns is called CounterAct Tobacco which tries to end tobacco preemption and stop teens from being able to easily access vapes and/or tobacco products. Vaping is unhealthy for many reasons, including it’s poisonous, can cause lung cancer, and it’s addictive. Many kids are in danger because vapes are easily accessible and they come in appealing colors and flavors. Through YAHL we try to improve tobacco laws so we can make it harder for youth to access and get ahold of these tobacco products. As a YAHL member, I raise awareness and educate people.

The other campaign YAHL members work on is Elevate Student Health. Elevate Student Health is trying to provide more physical activity, healthy eating, and safe water to drink at school. Eating unhealthy food is common, many high school students work or are very busy and don’t feel like cooking. But, eating healthy doesn’t have to mean eating salads and drinking water for every meal. Have you ever felt tired after eating at a fast food restaurant or really greasy food? Try trading it out for a more healthy option. As a YAHL member, we help to get healthier options at school. As a YAHL member, I will raise awareness and let people know there are simple options that can make a big difference in your health. YAHL members in my community can be an example and try to eat healthier and teach their young loved ones how to eat healthily.

It’s sad, but it’s the honest truth that many kids in my generation vape or eat unhealthily and some even do both. I strive to inform everyone I come in contact with about tobacco and unhealthy eating. We want a healthy and outgoing generation.

My Goal? Stopping Big Tobacco! by Rhianna Dumas

Giving a Voice to the Voiceless by My Nguyen

My Journey with YAHL by Mayra Amezcua

Working Hard to Make a Difference by Essence Felder

Why I Joined YAHL by Deiondra Howard

Making a Difference in Coalgate, Oklahoma by Brecken Hunt

YAHL Impacts My Community for the Better by Carina Chen

Being a YAHL Leadership Team Member – Casey Stewart

Why Health Activism Matters to Me by Lauren Pinner

Why I Joined the YAHL Team

Working Hard to Make a Difference by Essence Felder

Hello, I’m Essence Felder. I currently live in OKC, Oklahoma and I’m 16. YAHL stands for Youth Action for Health Leadership. YAHL’s main goal is to better youth’s lives as a whole, be it through CounterAct or Elevate. I decided to join because I loved that YAHL is not only pointing out problems in the community, but they are actively trying to fix them. A couple of these problems are: hard to access water, wide-spread nicotine/tobacco products in schools (vape, e-cigs, ect.) and little to no healthy options at lunch. All of these problems, and more, YAHL can help to change for the better.

Water is a vital part of being healthy; especially during the hotter parts of the school year. Water not being widely available during school makes a lot of students dehydrated. In that state, it is very hard to learn. Elevate Student Health meets with people who can fix that (principals, etc.).

Nicotine products are all over schools. Everyone my age either knows someone who used nicotine/tobacco products or uses them themselves. CounterAct wanted to take power away from “Big Tobacco”. They want to make sure that teens don’t have any access to any nicotine products.

Schools don’t have healthy options anymore, or if they do they are unappealing. YAHL wants to make sure that every school has good healthy food. As the saying goes, “if you eat well, you play well, and you work well.”

YAHL sees the problems with Oklahoma and works hard to fix them. Do you?

My Goal? Stopping Big Tobacco! by Rhianna Dumas

Giving a Voice to the Voiceless by My Nguyen

My Journey with YAHL by Mayra Amezcua

Working Hard to Make a Difference by Essence Felder

Why I Joined YAHL by Deiondra Howard

Making a Difference in Coalgate, Oklahoma by Brecken Hunt

YAHL Impacts My Community for the Better by Carina Chen

Being a YAHL Leadership Team Member – Casey Stewart

Why Health Activism Matters to Me by Lauren Pinner

Why I Joined the YAHL Team

Why I Joined YAHL by Deiondra Howard

Why is teen vaping a problem? Using nicotine in adolescence can harm the parts of the brain that control attention, learning, mood, and impulse control. With YAHL we are trying to take power out of the big tobacco company’s hands.

YAHL also has another campaign called Elevate Student Health. What Elevate Student Health is trying to do is change school policies so school youth have access to healthy foods, physical activity, and safe, clean water.

Teens, especially between the ages of 14 -17 are at high risk to start vaping, and children between the ages of 5 to 6 are at the highest risk of becoming overweight. As YAHL members we want to help better these problems!

My Goal? Stopping Big Tobacco! by Rhianna Dumas

Giving a Voice to the Voiceless by My Nguyen

My Journey with YAHL by Mayra Amezcua

Working Hard to Make a Difference by Essence Felder

Why I Joined YAHL by Deiondra Howard

Making a Difference in Coalgate, Oklahoma by Brecken Hunt

YAHL Impacts My Community for the Better by Carina Chen

Being a YAHL Leadership Team Member – Casey Stewart

Why Health Activism Matters to Me by Lauren Pinner

Why I Joined the YAHL Team

Being a YAHL Leadership Team Member – Casey Stewart

My absolute favorite thing I have done with YAHL was the Leadership Team. The Leadership Team was something that we had to apply for so we could attend the Summit in June. When I arrived in OKC for the Summit I was a little bit nervous that it was going to be boring, and I was even more nervous when my best friend and I weren’t assigned for roommates, and don’t even get me started on the first time we had to walk to dinner in the summer heat. Once I overcame the heat and the challenges of trying to meet new people, I had a great time. We learned about how to talk to adults and how to tell people about YAHL and our two campaigns: CounterAct and Elevate Student Health. We also learned about Public speaking and how we can recruit new members to YAHL.

The Leadership Team will also be great for events that I participate in in the future. Last year I did an event with Elevate where we got surveys, looking back on that we didn’t really know as much about Elevate, we really just told them to take the survey and get a prize. Now that I have attended the Leadership summit I know how to properly tell people about Elevate and CounterAct. This coming year I hope to be able to recruit more students to our program and participate in more events.

My Goal? Stopping Big Tobacco! by Rhianna Dumas

Giving a Voice to the Voiceless by My Nguyen

My Journey with YAHL by Mayra Amezcua

Working Hard to Make a Difference by Essence Felder

Why I Joined YAHL by Deiondra Howard

Making a Difference in Coalgate, Oklahoma by Brecken Hunt

YAHL Impacts My Community for the Better by Carina Chen

Being a YAHL Leadership Team Member – Casey Stewart

Why Health Activism Matters to Me by Lauren Pinner

Why I Joined the YAHL Team

Hello, my name is Karli Everett from Chelsea, Ok and I’m 14 years old. I am apart of a program called YAHL. YAHL is a youth led organization to help teens have better physical activity and healthy foods along with having clean drinking water. I hope to gain more leadership skills along with better public speaking skills. I joined because I want to change the tobacco laws where tobacco products are out of reach for young children, teens, and young adults. Two unhealthy trends I see in my generation are lack of physical activity and vaping which we can help because if we take power out of big tobacco companies hands and give it to ourselves, we can help get the tobacco products out of reach with our CounterAct Tobacco campaign and we can help get physical activity into schools with our Elevate Student Health campaign.

Lack of physical activity is making my generation have more health problems like obesity, diabetes, and even heart problems. Its affecting mainly 11 to 24 year olds. I think YAHL can help by promoting more physical activity by having posters up around the schools along with promoting the program during activities in the school and community. I will be talking to my principal and school board to help get my school to add in the recommended 60 minutes of physical activity a day. Members of the community can partner with the YAHL program and support us by letting us talk to their audience and collect surveys based on our campaigns.

The CounterAct campaign has taught me how vaping is unhealthy because it is harmful to the body and organs. Did you know Oklahoma is only 1 of 20 states without retail licensure for e-cigarettes, vapor, and other nicotine products? Requiring a licensure helps regulate nicotine products and the sale of nicotine products to children. 90% of nicotine addictions start before the user is 18. The young teens ages 15-17 are mainly affected by vaping, and I know many of my peers are in this category. YAHL can help by requiring stores to have a license to sell tobacco/vapor products and that could help reduce the use of products in young adults and teens.

I want to help reduce the use of tobacco/vapor products in youth and help youth get more physical activity. I want to help by talking to my school board or my principal to pass a new policy. You can help support YAHL, because with you, we can help make Oklahoma a better, safer environment for everyone. Join YAHL today by going to my.yahlok.org/apply.