Odell’s Matt Yasui and Parkdale’s Yesenia Castro were
invited — by official invitation from the White House — to meet with First
Lady Laura Bush in Portland on Feb. 28 at the Helping America’s Youth
Conference. HAY began in 2003 with an initiative by the First Lady to find
solutions for high-risk children.
Yasui is a youth leader with the Hood River Teen Court,
and Castro is a National Youth Leader.
The conference featured successful programs in Oregon,
Washington and California; the two Hood River students were joined by
others from The Dalles, Yasui and Castro joined the discussion on topics
such as mentoring, teen courts, and getting community support for
high-risk kids.
Greg Oden of the Portland Trailblazers introduced the
First Lady — and Yasui and Castro were quite impressed by the height
difference between the two.
