San Ramon Student Leads Advocacy Workshop At Several San Ramon Schools

SAN RAMON, CA — Dougherty Valley High School student Anika Bhasin says that her greatest fear growing up was public speaking, a skill she never learned at school.

After three years of participating in competitive public speaking, Bhasin is hoping to give younger generations a chance to develop their voices sooner in life. Through her nonprofit Bridge to Equity, Bhasin has offered a public speaking and advocacy to 11 classrooms at five different San Ramon schools: Coyote Creek Elementary School, Quail Run Elementary School, Bella Vista Elementary School, Live Oak Elementary School, and Windemere Ranch Middle School

Bhasin and another student, Sumedha Chivukula, presented a 30-minute course entitled “Intro to Advocacy” that features drills, public speaking, and ways to address legislators about subjects they feel passionately about.

“After 3 years of participating in competitive public speaking, I learned not only how participating in activities like Speech & Debate and Model UN are essential in becoming more confident in your own voice, but how youth who aren’t exposed to these environments–or don’t have to resources to do so–often shy away from expressing their ideas in front of audiences,” Bhasin told Patch in an email.

Bhasin said she was inspired to get involved in advocacy at the beginning of high school, after she saw her teachers protesting district-wide budget cuts each Wednesday. “While I walked past them each week, I noticed that most of my peers rarely batted an eye. Although small, I felt like the disconnect between the issues shaping our education and the students affected by them made me realize how unfamiliar advocacy felt to most young people, further motivating me to make a change,” she said.

“These personal experiences have made hosting our elementary school visits so important to me; as I’ve been able to first-hand teach students about the concepts of speaking up and advocacy.”

“My students enjoyed this workshop. They are now excited about finding issues in our school, our neighborhood, as well as the nation and brainstorming ways to address them,” said Mark Shanteau, a fifth grade teacher at Bella Vista.

Bridge to Equity has focused on bringing advocacy and social justice curricula all across the country, and has partnered with organizations like Voters of Tomorrow and Young Leaders in Climate Action to host online student events.

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