With each room decked out in Marvel decorations showcasing favorite superheroes from Hulk to Captain America at Lakeview Senior Center, High School Youth Action Team’s 28th annual Teen Summit was held on March 26 going all in on its Marvel theme. The event showcased various workshops for all students to engage in, ranging from more active events like Bollywood Yoga to motivating events like Building Resiliency and various speaker forums.

“I was motivated to participate at Teen Summit as I wanted to give back to my community and learn new things that could help me in the future,” YAT member freshman Isabella Rose said. 

The student-organized youth development conference of over 300 students was led by HSYAT staff as well as the Teen Summit committee and looks to better equip high school students with leadership skills. Planning began after winter break with the formation of a subcommittee composed of HSYAT’s staff, class representatives and anyone else interested to determine what issues will be addressed at the event, along with recruiting speakers and instructors..

“Throughout the weeks, we planned the theme, speakers, prizes, secured donations and publicized for the event,” member of the Teen Summit planning committee and YAT staff senior Jenny Zhang said. “Just meeting everyone, talking to all the club members and seeing all the volunteers enjoying everything was very rewarding!”

HSYAT staff and the Teen Summit committee kicked off the event with a complimentary breakfast from the Kiwanis Club followed by a welcoming address from Irvine Vice Mayor Anthony Kuo. Students were then directed to their first of three workshops.

Among the workshops, Philip Chow’s seminar on Servant Leadership emphasized the importance of interactions with peers in order to be strong leaders, and incorporated the Marvel theme through Chow’s Captain America costume. 

After students had completed their three workshops of choice, they were led back to the auditorium where the event ended with closing remarks made by YAT staff and the planning committee as well as a raffle.

“We had an amazing event and we definitely felt that all it was successful based on the feedback we received,” HSYAT advisor Lisa Osmanian said. “We just continue to try to make it bigger and better by providing more food, more interactive activities and trying again to address whatever is relevant to teens next year by having pulse on that and making sure that we identify and provide them with workshops for whatever they need.”