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Parents, Educators/Teachers & Students in Action


June 30, 2023

PESA at CAYC

Highlighting CAYC’s 18th Annual Youth Court Summit

Educating students about youth and peer courts is essential in promoting juvenile justice across California. With that goal in mind, from June 23rd through the 25th, dozens of high school students from across the state gathered at the University of Redlands to participate in the 18th Annual Youth Court summit. The event, hosted in a collaboration between the California Association of Youth Courts (CAYC), the Judicial Council of California, and various youth courts, included numerous workshops, activities and socials for students. PESA staff played a pivotal role in ensuring the success of the summit through chaperoning, presenting and coordinating various aspects of the event. 


There were over 150 student attendees, representing high schools all over Los Angeles County, the Antelope Valley, Humboldt County and more. They attended workshop sessions about trauma-informed education protocols and starting youth courts, to utilizing data for mental health services and juror training. They also participated in panels to learn about various careers in the courts, e.g. court mediator and investigator, and how to turn activism into a political career. Shivm Patel, a rising senior at Chatsworth High School shares that, “CAYC did a great job setting up this event and really helped me develop a complex understanding of youth courts and its various aspects. The workshops were really well done, the topics were great and I was able to learn a lot.” 


Speakers and presenters came from incredibly diverse professional backgrounds in city and local politics, the judiciary, nonprofits, public policy and education. Emory Gutierrez, a Community Representative at PESA and Teen Court Alumni, led a Jury Training workshop in conjunction with Assistant Director of Youth Services, Jesus Gonzalez. Gutierrez states,“I had attended CAYC a couple times in high school through my Teen Court program. I was extremely enriched by the wide variety of workshops and social opportunities provided, as well as being able to explore different college campuses to prepare myself for higher education.” Returning now as a PESA employee she shares, “It came full circle last weekend when I was given the opportunity to not only chaperone, but also present my own workshop and pass on what I've learned throughout my time working with PESA, Teen Court, and past CAYC summits to a new generation of future advocates and activists.”


Jennifer Sanchez, PESA’s Assistant Director of Youth Development & Social Justice states that, "I had the opportunity to participate in Teen Court all four years of high school and it led me to the opportunity to experience CAYC as a high school student in 2014 and 2015. It was definitely a life changing experience for me. It played a big role in why I decided to go to college and get my degree in Criminology and Justice Studies and focus my career on helping at-promise youth.” 


Seymour Amster, the President of CAYC and Executive Director of PESA shares that the summit was truly successful. “It was very rewarding for me to watch the students enjoy themselves at the summit, make new friendships and actively participate in the seminars.”


Inspiring the next generation of public leaders is a vital task and PESA is proud to continue fostering an interest in juvenile justice across youth and providing them numerous professional development and networking opportunities. 


If you’d like to support PESA’s many social and educational initiatives, please contact us.

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