Maya McFadden Photo
Alejandro Zacatelco: "I was really confused and scared."
Wilbur Cross junior Alejandro Zacatelco offered advice to 100 middle-schoolers transitioning to high school — advice he never got due to the Covid pandemic.
His advice: Don’t be scared, ask questions, be yourself, and keep your record clean.
Zacatelco was one of eight current Cross and Hillhouse High School students on a student leadership panel Monday for the district’s inaugural eighth-grade student leadership conference.
The conference was held at the Southern Connecticut State University (SCSU) Adanti Student Center.
The event was organized by New Haven Public Schools (NHPS) Youth, Family, and Community office supervisor Kermit Carolina; School Climate & Title IX Coordinator Michelle Kelly-Baker; and WOW! Creative Design Group Founder and Owner Jackie Buster.
Monday’s conference included a presentation about New Haven Promise opportunities and group discussions about what leadership is.
Students sat with their peers in a third-floor conference room decorated with posters reading, “Your speed doesn’t matter, forward is forward,” and “Never stop learning because life never stops teaching.”
In addition to Zacatelco, the student panel included high schoolers Avery Sutton, Lia Arboleda, Zulaikha Khan, Harmony Cruz Bustamante, John Carlos Serana Musser, Quran Hannans, and Kahsim Ryan.
The panelists talked about their leadership work, which included being in several honor societies, being Emergency Medical Technician (EMT) certified, being political educators in the community, and holding a student representative seat on the district’s Board of Education.
The panelists gave tips to the 100-plus middle schoolers who hailed from all over the district as they would soon transition to their next academic move: high school.
When asked why the students got involved as student leaders, Zacatelco explained that his eighth and ninth grade years were impacted by the pandemic. In eighth grade, Zacatelco could only attend school remotely.
This caused for a difficult transition from middle to high school for Zacatelco. When he arrived at Wilbur Cross he also discovered the school hadn’t had an active Genders & Sexualities Alliance (GSA) since 2007. In an attempt to create a safe space for himself and others, Zacatelco stepped into the leadership role and revived the school’s GSA.
Cross senior Harmony Cruz Bustamante said they didn’t want always to be a student leader. But they realized New Haven students deserve more than schools with falling ceiling tiles and students with drug addictions. “I was sick and tired of decisions being made for me,” they added.
Throughout the panelists offered first-hand advice like:
- Keep your school work first
- Aim to be a well-rounded human being
- Get involved
- Go to school
- Take mental health breaks
- Don’t be afraid to care
- Have fun
- Don’t do drugs
- Find the right friends
“I hope you are listening,” Carolina called out to the middle schoolers.
Hillhouse junior Avery Sutton added Monday that because he stayed focused on his academics throughout high school, he’s now received interest from several D1 colleges to continue his basketball career.
Carolina concluded Monday that he strives to offer high school and middle school youth with more opportunities to talk and learn about leadership. “These leaders deserve to be highlighted and it’s our responsibility as adults to give them that platform,” he said.
Monday's student panel.
Organizers Jackie Buster, Kermit Carolina, and Michelle Kelly-Baker.