Caroline Clark of Woodside is busy packing for the trip of her life.
Caroline is one of five teens who helped produce videos on the infrastructure of the City of Palo Alto through the Mid Peninsula Community Media Center - and, as a reward for their efforts, they are being honored with a trip to the Presidential Inauguration in Washington, D.C.
Heading out Friday along with Caroline are Gunn High School students Dakota Baker and Nitya Kasturi, and Palo Alto High School students Alec Furrier and Kenny Jones.
Former Palo Alto Mayor Mayor Yiaway Yeh; Media Center Programming Manager Becky Sanders, who managed the 2012 Mayor’s Youth Video Corps; and Media Center intern Wes Rapaport will accompany the students.
The teens will create videos for the Democratic Municipal Officials (DMO) organization during their trip.
Yeh said, “It is important that youth voices be brought into civic life and for them to know that they can and do make a difference. Just because they don’t vote yet, doesn’t mean they can’t influence policy. I hope that by bringing them to Washington at this historic time, they might get a little fired up."
Airfare for the five students and two Media Center staff members has been donated by Southwest Airlines. Tickets for the Inauguration were arranged for through Rep. Anna Eshoo’s office.
"The students worked incredibly hard on the infrastructure videos for Palo Alto, and this is one way Congresswoman Eshoo, the National Association of Broadcasters, and the Democratic Municipal Officials organization have chosen to recognize their outstanding work,” Yeh said.
DMO Executive Director Barbara Moore shared her thoughts on Palo Alto’s Youth Video Corps partnering with the organization.
"Youth engagement is important to the DMO, and each of our member local elected officials," she said. "We are proud to sponsor this group of students from Palo Alto to take part in the historic 57th Presidential Inauguration and recognize their ability to capture important perspectives on film."
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