Tomorrow’s Leaders Today are honored?at graduation

The South Class of Tomorrow’s Leaders Today conducted its ninth annual graduation ceremony at St. Vincent de Paul’s Tillman Hall.|

The South Class of Tomorrow’s Leaders Today conducted its ninth annual graduation ceremony at St. Vincent de Paul’s Tillman Hall. Thirty-five Petaluma students - Kim Altamirano, Lexie Andrade, Haley Antonini, Alexis Aviles, Juliana Bertolucci, McKenna Caramucci, Dominic Christobal, Mar Cisneros Vazquez, Grace Davis, Katelyn DeLaMontanya, Alisa Dreyer, Alexis Engelen, Alexa Evans, Amy Ferrick, Jimmy Flynn, Edyn Garvisch, Phoebe Goulden, Nathan Hedge, Amanda Lyman, Riley Matson, Marcos Peech, Noah Preute, Grace Ramadan, Tiernan Settles, Halle Solon, Robin Soukesian, Marina Stiles, Dean Stirrat, Jenni Tapia, Will Tillman, Marc Velazquez, Anneliese Wolf, Renee Yerion, Peter Yu - were presented with certificates to recognize their work.

Once a month during the past school year, these students came together for full-day field experiences to develop their leadership skills, explore possible career options, and learn how their communities really work. Each month, students visited different area nonprofits, businesses and government agencies, and met with the leaders of these organizations to learn about the issues they face daily.

Petaluma City Council member Teresa Barrett is a regular at TLT’s Government Day in February, connecting our class with both hired and elected city officials to give them insights into public service. Students have the opportunity to meet both Mayor David Glass and City Manager John Brown, and to ask questions of Superintendent Gary Callahan and School Board members Phoebe Ellis and Sheri Chlebowski. TLT’s Business & Media Day brought together business leaders from Amy’s Kitchen, Lagunitas Brewing Company, Revive Kombucha, Alvarado Street Bakery and Clover Stornetta, who spoke to students about their positions, the many twists and turns in their careers and the contributions local businesses make to our community.

Tomorrow’s Leaders Today is a program of Social Advocates for Youth (SAY), a Sonoma County nonprofit providing housing, counseling and career services to the county’s youth. Wednesday’s Graduation ceremony included SAY Chief Development Officer Cat Cvengros, who encouraged the graduates: “Not only as citizens of your town or city, or of Sonoma County, but as global citizens, find that one cause you’re passionate about and do something on its behalf.”

Also in attendance were two Steering Committee members, Diane Olson of Hope Counseling Services and Elece Hempel of Petaluma People Services.

Since its inception in 1991, TLT has served more than 2,000 youth in Sonoma County, mostly high school juniors. For information about the program, application process, deadlines and scholarships, contact TLT Program Director Chris Pack via email at chris@tomorrowsleaderstoday.org.

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