Youth summit returns for sixth year
By Eliav Appelbaum eliav@theacorn.com

Sometimes all students need is a little confidence booster.

At the sixth annual Simi Valley Youth Summit, they can get that and more.

Organized largely by local high school students on the Simi Valley Youth Council, this year's youth summit will be held from 8 a.m. to 2:45 p.m. next Thursday, Feb. 21 at the Rancho Santa Susana Community Center on Los Angeles Avenue.

The main goal of the event is to inspire teenagers to be leaders in their community.

"We want to show students how easy it is to get involved," said Samantha Argabrite, youth council coordinator.

Started in 2002, the summit is a way for the youth council to reach out to more students and discover what issues affect them the most.

About 150 to 170 students from Simi Valley, Royal, Santa Susana, Grace Brethren and Apollo high schools and the Simi Valley Adult School are expected to attend this year's summit.

Members of the youth council will lead breakout sessions regarding topics of interest to the students at the summit.

The topics are gleaned from the students' applications.

The biggest issue for these students, according to Argabrite, is gangs. She said the students' second-greatest concern is the environment.

Even though students will be missing school, everyone is expected to take the summit seriously.

"We treat it like a conference rather than a free day of school," Argabrite said.

The summit will kick off with a keynote address by Jill Esplin, a motivational speaker from Orange, Calif.

Then Esplin and the youth council members will lead the sessions.

A lunch provided by the Kiwanis Club of Simi Valley will allow students to interact with local dignitaries, including members of the Simi Valley City Council.

"Our hope this year is that students will reach out to other students at other schools," Argabrite said.

"It's common for students to stay with friends. We're going to put them in groups related to their issues of concern. . . . Not everyone who attends is a leader at their school, although some wish they could be," she continued. "The youth summit introduces people who normally wouldn't think to be leaders and lets them see that they can be leaders regardless of whether they hold office or not. A lot of it is selfconfidence and exposing them to opportunities."