High School Senior Project Results in Two Charges

Photo Left to right Belina Van, Franklin High School, Rodolfo Hurtado, Program Analyst Seattle Field Office, Thuy Huynh, Franklin High School, at the Culminating Project Presentation holding Youth@Work pamphlets

June 8, 2006, Seattle, WA, Program Analyst Rodolfo Hurtado represented the Seattle Field Office at the culminating project presentation for Thuy Huynh and Belina Van; two Franklin High School students that have been mentored by Hurtado and Enforcement Investigator Valarie Johnson throughout the school year in support of the field office's Youth@Work initiative. The field office's Youth@Work initiative is a comprehensive outreach and education campaign designed to inform teens about their rights and responsibilities.

The two students presented their senior project on "Employment Discrimination" to an audience of thirty parents, teachers, and community members. Thuy and Belina's project included a slide show they developed and video scenarios from the Youth@Work video previously produced by the San Francisco District Office for their Preventing & Understanding Sexual Harassment youth education initiative. The two students reported having presented their program at three area high schools to six classes for a total of 100 students.

As a result of their educational presentations they discovered that, indeed, some of the students to whom they presented had suffered discrimination in employment. Two of those students are now taking action to file charges after learning about the process from the senior project program. Audience members at the culminating project presentation commented that Thuy and Belina's senior project demonstrated an informed understanding of a community need and were very impressed by the significant impact resulting from their project.