Home » Santa Clarita News » Community News » Santa Clarita Valley, Antelope Valley Chapter Of Jack And Jill Hosts Southern Area Work Day Regional Conference

Santa Clarita Valley, Antelope Valley Chapter Of Jack And Jill Hosts Southern Area Work Day Regional Conference

Story by Billy Johnson Jr.

The Hyatt Regency Valencia was the venue for the annual Southern Area Work Day regional conference, hosted by the Santa Clarita Valley/ Antelope Valley Chapter of Jack and Jill of America Inc.


Sponsored Articles


Don’t miss a thing. Get breaking 
Santa Clarita news alerts delivered right to your inbox.

The conference, held last weekend, drew in 251 mothers, teens and tweens from 16 chapters spanning California, Arizona and Nevada.

The conference addressed issues for parents and youth with topics including teen dating andworkday 2 aggressive behavior, texting and driving, parental issues that arise with social media, mental health and wellness and educational opportunities, among other areas.

Canyon Country mother and Chapter President, Cydney Junius, is especially proud of the youth sessions.

“The most impactful portion of the agenda may have been the teen/tween programming, which educated our young people about everything from texting and driving safety to parliamentary procedures,” Junius said.

The teen dating and aggressive behavior workshop, in particular, offered attendees alarming statistics about the sometimes tumultuous relationships among young adults.

The workshop conducted by Jamie LeClerc of Strength United, a San Fernando-based youth abuse and violence prevention program, caught the attention of 16-year-old Stevenson Ranch student Morgan Smith, who is also the regional teen vice president for the Far West Region of the organization.

“It was so informative,” Smith said. “Learning that one in every three high school students is abused physically or emotionally was really eye opening.”

The oratorical contest where 13 students spoke on the subject of the state of black America, competing in two age divisions, 13-15 and 16-19, was another impressive youth segment. Valencia Olympian Annett Davis and Grammy-nominated hip-hop legend Yolanda “YoYo” Whitaker were among the judges.

Paula Williams Madison, former owner of the L.A. Sparks and former executive vice president of diversity for NBCUniversal,delivered a dynamic keynote address about self worth, hard work, and tracing her family’s roots to China. The latter is the topic of her book and documentary Finding Samuel Lowe.

Two local authors promoted their books. Ryan Ashley Rector, a 10-year-old Stevenson Ranch resident, spoke about her two titles, I’m Not A Vampire, I Just Suck My Thumb, and Hey Zoo Animals! Wake Up Already.

SCV Minister Theresa Kirk displayed her literary works, Some Things Made Plain, W.O.R.D. – Wisdom’s Oil Released Daily, Volume 2, The Explicit Grace: Yes It’s Sufficient, Volume 3.

After a full day of meetings that began at 8 a.m., the youth enjoyed a dance. It was highlighted by a performance from The Sledge Grits Band, an Antelope Valley sister quartet whose new song “Am What I Am” impacted the iTunes Hot Tracks chart.

Also, Imani and Elijah Knox, SCV residents and stars of the Oprah Winfrey Network’s reality series Flex and Shanice, signed autographs and took pictures with fans. Their parents, actor and comedian Flex Alexander and “I Love Your Smile” singer Shanice Wilson, and other cast member Ruba Wilson attended in support.

Junius said the conference was a “tremendous success.”

“The event let us showcase our beautiful city to other families while giving our youth opportunities for community service and leadership skill building,” Junius said. “This type of youth leadership training is imperative and is the heartbeat of our organization.”

Conference Chair Ebony Macon Johnson said it was an honor to hold the conference in the Santa Clarita Valley.

“It was a pleasure to serve as the host chapter for this important event for the first time,” Johnson said. “Although it was a huge undertaking for our 24 mothers, it was a rewarding experience.”

Related: Podcasts: Parents In The Mix

About Jack and Jill  

Jack and Jill of America, Inc., a national organization, was incorporated in January of 1938. The organization is comprised of 230 chapters with 40,000 families.

Jack and Jill of America, Inc. nurtures African-American children ages 2-19 by building leadership skills through community service, philanthropy and programming.

For more information regarding membership, please contact Vice President and Conference Chair Danielle Cooper at the website.

Do you have a news tip? Call us at (661) 298-1220, or drop us a line at community@hometownstation.com.

KHTS-Logo-Footer-3

Santa Clarita Valley, Antelope Valley Chapter Of Jack And Jill Hosts Southern Area Work Day Regional Conference

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

*

This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.

About KHTS Newsroom

KHTS FM 98.1 & AM 1220 focuses on Santa Clarita news, traffic, weather, sports, and also plays music. Bringing you SCV breaking news first and keeping you up to date with Santa Clarita events.