Amanda King took the stage at the Stockton Arena at the city’s first Trü Hope Youth Summit amid raucous cheers of hundreds of area teens.
The KWIN radio personality with a master’s degree in education had at least one thing in common with most of the teenagers at the summit. Like them, she is from Stockton.
And part of finding success later in life is realizing when you have an opportunity to better yourself, she said. Opportunities like the summit.
“You’re in the right place,” she said. “You need to surround yourself with people who inspire you. You need to surround yourself with people who lift you up.”
And that’s what the students found at the Oct. 26 summit.
King was just one of an all-star lineup of hometown heroes that joined the performers, artists, and speakers delivering an enduring message of hope to the teens gathered at the arena for the event, presented by the United Way of San Joaquin and a host of sponsors, including the San Joaquin County Office of Education, Stockton Unified School District, and other businesses and public agencies.
Stockton poet Brandon Leake talked about growing up in a neighborhood where many of the children he knew are now either dead or incarcerated. But he also spoke about the importance of dreaming big.
That was part of the message delivered by Tyronne Gross, who came from Stockton and went on to play in the National Football League for the San Diego Chargers.
“Keep dreaming. Keep hoping. And remember: quitting is not an option,” he said. “And you can do anything you set your mind to.”
Darren Arbet comes from Stockton, and he’s no stranger to the Stockton Arena. It’s where the San Jose SaberCats – the Arena Football League team he coaches and partly owns – became ArenaBowl XXVIII champions less than two months earlier.
He told the teens in the audience to have goals and enjoy life’s journey. “Whatever your situation is, you can always climb out of it.”
A positive message can do a great deal of good for students, said Brandy Thurman, an administrator for some of the SJCOE’s one. schools and a member of the summit planning committee.
“The Trü Hope Youth Summit is an opportunity to engage and inspire students to make positive life choices and to remind them of how truly important they are in this world. We want students to know that regardless of their circumstances they are not alone and they have the potential inside of them to fulfill their dreams,” Thurman said. “Positive words are very powerful.”
When the final speaker left the stage, students filed out of their seats. They joked, danced, and reflected on the experience before loading up on buses lined up outside the arena.
“I loved it,” said Angel, a freshman at Stagg High School in Stockton Unified School District. “I liked the stories that were told, and how they related to us.”
Dimitri, a freshman from Stockton Unified’s Edison High School, liked the message in Leake’s poetry.
“I feel like it related to me,” he said.
Christian, a freshman at a school in the SJCOE one. program said he particularly liked the part when performers executed acrobatic backflips. But he also said the day was about more than being entertained.
“I thought it was nice. Helpful. Encouraging,” he said. “It encourages kids to think.”