Youth Forum a reason for optimism

By Brian Greenspun (contact)

Sunday, Nov. 29, 2009 | 2 a.m.

I have seen the future and it looks good.

This Thanksgiving weekend has been a most special time in America as families across the land did their best to come together and reflect on all that we have to be thankful for at a time when there is economic upheaval and when insecurity abounds.

What many Americans thought would be forever has ended as most of us head into an era of unknowns and uncertainties.

Looked at from one direction, that can be scary, as I am sure many people will attest. Looked at another way, there is hope and there is opportunity that didn’t exist before the economic meltdown.

It is both a sad and difficult time, and a time to look forward with some excitement.

The beginning of this Thanksgiving week started as many have — with the Sun Youth Forum. Close to 1,000 Clark County high school students gathered at the Las Vegas Convention Center — as they have come together for the past 53 years — to meet and discuss the issues of importance to them in a setting that encourages risk-free dialogue with one another, an effort that teaches respect for others’ opinions and the benefits of open-minded discourse.

The Youth Forum has been a partnership between the Sun and the Clark County School District since its inception. It is ongoing proof that private-public partnerships do work, students will work, and high schools can produce quality when challenges are set and expectations are made known.

The purpose of the Youth Forum continues to be to provide an environment in which young people can express their ideas, question adult leadership and come up with their own solutions to the challenges we face as individuals and as citizens of this state and this nation.

A sign of success has always been the kind and quality of adult volunteers who give of their time to participate — in fact many are disappointed when they can’t serve — as moderators of the forum classrooms spread across the meeting rooms of the Las Vegas Convention Center.

I have been watching and taking great delight in the evolution of the Youth Forum over the past two decades. Actually, the evolution of the student participants.

Back in my days as a Youth Forum participant, coats and ties were the norm — not so much a dictate from the schools but certainly a requirement from home.

Knowing that high school students don’t often own coats and ties, I have paid close attention to the self-imposed “dress code” of the students each year.

If you can remember how kids dressed in the ’80s and ’90s, you can just imagine how that was reflected on Youth Forum day.

I know I am not supposed to even suggest a correlation, but it has been abundantly clear to this observer that what they wore affected how they acted and, frankly, what and how they thought. Don’t ask me why, it just did.

Over the past few years, the dress code has improved to the point that most of the young men wore ties or, at least, proper shirts and pants. The young women were equally well dressed.

And if you ask any of the moderators or school observers, they will tell you that the quality of the discussion, the knowledge behind the thought processes and the creativity that permeated those meeting rooms was, in the words of Emeril Lagasse, “kicked up a notch!”

If you don’t believe me, you can learn for yourselves what these students — Clark County’s best and brightest — had to say. In December, representatives of each of the discussion groups will appear in writing — in my Where I Stand column. Early next year, other finalists will present their groups’ views in the high school publication Class! Magazine, on UNLV-TV and over statewide radio, courtesy of the Nevada Broadcasters Association. Knowing what our kids think should be required!

Meanwhile, back to the future. I started this column by telling you I believe things look good. What I meant by that is that our young people, at least those represented at the Youth Forum, have not only the brains to achieve but also the heart and sensitivity to succeed.

Each year the Las Vegas Sun randomly selects a number of students at the Youth Forum to receive a $1,000 college scholarship. In our view, everyone who is selected to attend the Youth Forum qualifies academically, so we added the element of chance in an effort to provide a little financial help.

This year was no different, except ...

One of the students, Zac Stone from Foothill High School, was selected for a scholarship. He told Youth Forum officials that he was fortunate enough not to need it and wanted it to go to another student.

Another student got that $1,000! At the same time, State Senate Majority Leader Steven Horsford, a first-time moderator, volunteered to provide a scholarship and Congresswoman Shelley Berkley, a Youth Forum participant back in the day and a moderator today, provided another.

And if that weren’t remarkable enough, UNLV President Neal Smatresk, also a first-time moderator, saw the opportunity to encourage a smart local senior to attend UNLV and offered a $1,000 scholarship — for all four years!

The message was clear throughout the large meeting room. People of all ages — high school students, university presidents and elected leadership — care deeply about the education of young people. Across generational lines, people were prepared to step up and help someone else.

That concern for community and others was a lesson taught last week at the Youth Forum. It was also a lesson learned by everyone in attendance.

We do have much for which to be thankful. Our youth and the future they promise are at the top of the list.

Brian Greenspun is editor of the Las Vegas Sun.