LA youth council captures Homeland Security prize

By Christine Bordelon
Clarion Herald

Isa Lancaster, a Mount Carmel Academy senior, is getting her teen voice heard as president of the Louisiana Legislative Youth Advisory Council (LYAC), a youth group that works with state legislators.


This year as president, she and 12 members of the 31-member LYAC, have not only worked on youth issues that they want the Legislature to address but they also entered the Invent2Prevent competition, sponsored by the Department of Homeland Security. Launched in 2021, the competition inspires teens and young adults to think about violence prevention in their communities.

Her team placed first in the high school division for its project, “Let’s Talk,” an interactive card game with three levels of questions to generate conversation among fourth and fifth graders whose communications skills were stilted during the COVID-19 pandemic. Members were confident that, if developed, “Let’s Talk” would not only make an impact on students but also would be extremely helpful. Duke University won the college division.

“Our goal was to combat bullying and isolation between fourth and fifth graders,” Lancaster said. During the pandemic, children faced negative consequences and were isolated, stunting their social and cognitive skills, she said.

“This (game with levels for small groups and teacher-led instruction) requires working together in a shared goal, communicating with others, understanding social cues and others’ different perspectives,” Lancaster said. “We wanted to create something fun that could re-introduce these skills in the classroom environment. The Mayo Clinic says when socializing online, kids don’t realize how hurtful some words can be. This gives kids a way to  redevelop person-to-person conversation.”


Competition fierce among finalists
Lancaster said 18 projects made the finals, but the top three were invited to present their idea Jan. 25 at the Department of Homeland Security headquarters to five judges representing Homeland Security, the American Psychological Association, the Campus Safety Magazine and a George Washington University deputy director of extremism.

Five LYAC team members flew to Washington, D.C., Jan. 23-26 for their 12-minute presentation. Lancaster mentioned the strong presentations from a New Jersey teen group that focused on Islamophobia, and a Florida project  –  near the Parkland high school shooting – that concentrated on stopping hate.

“We felt really good about our presentation, but we were a little nervous, because two other finalists were really good,” she said. “It felt really good (to win) after months of hard work on this project. It was such an amazing feeling.”

The LYAC team earned $5,000 and a certificate for its winning project. Lancaster is hoping her team can further develop the game idea – possibly into an app or even cards for the blind and have it available to schools.

Trying to impact youth
“LYAC is a really great tool that the Louisiana Legislature has incorporated,” Lancaster said. “A lot of time, youth doesn’t get a voice in government. The entire council is made of high school students. …  It’s a great tool for us to represent what we want to see in government, the policies and change what we want to happen.”

During her first year on the council in 2021-22, Lancaster and fellow committee members supported a bill that would prevent students in grades lower than third or fourth grade from being expelled for nonviolent actions and also define “willful disobedience,” since individual teachers define it differently, she said. The students thought a suspension or expulsion – at that age group – was not beneficial to a student’s learning curve. The bill died with a tie vote in committee.

This year, students are working on a bill that requires schools to implement school shooter plans and to schedule practice drills during lunchtime or classroom changes. Students are collaborating with Louisiana Sen. Barry Milligan (District 38) to sponsor this bill. He hopes to develop an app for students to download on their phone to be notified of a school shooter on campus and to avoid that location, and  “Stop the Bleed” training for teachers. This bill has yet to be assigned a number, she said.

Being on the council is competitive, said Lancaster, a student ambassador at Mount Carmel. Only 31 students out of 200 students who apply annually are selected.

She considers being a member a great opportunity for students with an interest in government, politics and law. Lancaster aspires to be an international lawyer concentrating on human rights issues.

“If you really apply yourself, you can really help so many people,” she said. “Youth are very underrepresented in Louisiana and across the nation. So, being able to get your voice out there and heard is important.”
“Let’s Talk” is available at www.pinterest.com/lyaclouisiana/.