Seventeen Health Department Youth Ambassadors traveled to Georgetown University to present their community health projects to faculty members of the School of Medicine’s Department of Family Medicine. This event was the final competition for students from Justice, John Lewis, and Mount Vernon High Schools who participated in the Youth Ambassador program in either the fall or spring sessions this school year.
Roxana Melanie Pineda Serrano from Mount Vernon High School was named winner of the Best Individual Project category for her project to address food insecurity and access to affordable healthy food. The award for Best Group Project was presented to Justice High School students Brenda Ferrufino-Cruz and Connor Morgan for their plan to increase awareness of the early signs of a stroke.
Connor cited a very personal reason for choosing to tackle this particular health issue. “There's history in my family. My uncle had a stroke, but no one around him ever noticed that he was actually having a stroke," said Connor. "He was told to just sit down and go back to work, until later when he was rushed to the ER. Now he's just different behaviorally and emotionally. That made me want to pick this topic, so I can spread awareness towards the signs of strokes, and so no other family has to suffer like I did when I practically lost my uncle."
Students in the Youth Ambassador program must complete a required community health project in order to graduate from the program. Participants selected a health issue that is relevant to them and created an actionable plan on how to address it. Among the criteria for evaluation, the student projects were judged on originality, cultural relevance, and feasibility.
After two rounds of preliminary judging by subject matter experts at the Health Department, 17 students advanced to this final round. Bipolar depression in students, hunger and access to healthy food, language barriers in healthcare, sleep deprivation among teenagers, and early detection of Alzheimer’s Disease were among other issues that students identified within their communities and chose to address.
Leading the judging panel this day was the Chair of the Department of Family Medicine, Dr. Michelle Roett, MD. “Today was absolutely inspirational,” said Dr. Roett. “I loved to hear the energy and see the hard work that the students put into their projects. I wish I could have had an opportunity like this when I was in high school.”
Other members of the department who served as judges included Dr. Khaseem Davis, MD, Senior Associate Dean; Dr. Claudia Nguyen, MD, Professor and Psychotherapist; Dr. Brian Lin, MD, Resident Physician; Dr. Kim Bullock MD, Associate Professor; and Dr. Keri Kirk, MD, Clinical Psychologist and Assistant Professor.
In addition to the presentation of their projects, the students received a tour of the School of Medicine facilities. The event at Georgetown University was coordinated by Dr. LaTasha Seliby-Perkins, Assistant Professor of Family Medicine and Director of Community-Based Learning at the School of Medicine. Dr. Seliby-Perkins also served as MC and host of the event.
The Georgetown University School of Medicine is an important partner in the Public Health Youth Ambassador Program. Throughout the year, med students from the school met with and coached program participants, and provided in-class instruction in some of the program’s more medical-related lessons. Part of the goal of the program is that youth ambassadors will develop relationships with the med students, forming a mentorship opportunity that will encourage the young person through their career discovery and education years.
Learn more about the Public Health Youth Ambassador Program. For anyone interested in applying for program participation for the 2025-2026 school year, the applications should be available online in August for the fall cohort, and in December for the spring cohort.