My name is Shakayla Crank, I am in 9th grade at Tucumcari High School. This is my first year in evolvement. I joined evolvement because smoking is ruining the world by poisoning people’s lungs and it kills people.  And now teens and young kids are starting at a young age. The Youth Field Organizer, Amanda came to my school and talked about Evolvement and how we can get involved. In her presentation, I was inspired because she made it seem possible to fix the broken world we live in.

The training was on October 6th of 2021. During the training, we saw a PowerPoint presentation on the dangers and risks of tobacco and the way that it affects the body. We did group work where you watch a video with your group and then answer simple questions on the video/videos. We talked about the two different campaigns Evolvement works with and how to complete the surveys and earn points. The points you earn go toward stuff in the store. There are things like AirPods, laptops, and more.

The first campaign is the 24/7 campaign to keep schools tobacco-free 24 hours a day, 7 days a week. The next campaign is the No Minor Sale campaign that is working to keep stores to from selling tobacco-based products to minors and to educate the community about flavored products.

This experience helps you realize the dangers of tobacco in the world and how you can help stop tobacco use in schools and the community. Evolvement is a good organization that everyone should join. This organization makes it possible to help prevent smoking in schools and the community so we can have a somewhat positive environment. This is also so the next generations to come have a positive environment too.

My name is Genoveva Gallegos. I am from Tucumcari, New Mexico. I am a senior at Pecos Cyber Academy, and this is my 4^th year with Evolvement, but this is my second year on the leadership team. Throughout the leadership team I have met people from around the state and even made some new friends. When I joined the leadership team I was really shy and afraid of public speaking.

         Slowly with the help of amazing opportunities through Evolvement, I learned how to come out of my shell and become more confident in public speaking. I have even done things I never thought someone my age could do. I have met with state legislators, American Heart Association advocates and members, and even got to meet with congress members all before I graduated high school. These are things I was afraid to do, however with proper training and practice sessions I was able to overcome that fear and meet with them. From my point of view, it was completely mind blowing but still a great experience to do.

         When I first joined the Evolvement team, I had heard about it from an older student who was doing an event at my middle school. I was inspired by this student and once I became a freshman in high school, I was ready to be part of the team and take charge. Since then I was really happy to be able to take part in making my community and state a better and healthier place to live. In my junior year, which was during the year 2020, I applied to be part of the leadership team. I was kind of scared to apply my sophomore year, but decided to go all out and apply during my junior year. I was excited to receive the results. I saw the email in my inbox and felt kind of nervous to open it. When I did open the email I jumped up and down with excitement and cried happy tears finding out I had been accepted to join the leadership team. However, because of the pandemic that hit, unfortunately I wasn’t able to join the Summit in person. So, we held a virtual summit session, but I still had a blast getting to know all the other members and making new friends. We did activities from arts and crafts to team games. The more events and meetings we had with members of the team the more we bonded. 

Evolvement as a whole is like a family. Everyone gets along, hangs out, and cares for one another. That’s something we rarely see today. Through encouragement and much practice I learned how to become more confident in public speaking and learned how to come out of my shell and become less shy. This is something I learned through my experience with Evolvement. I would go back and do it all again if I could.

         In all honesty, I will miss everyone who I have gotten to know and gotten to hang out with a lot. However, I know once me and my fellow seniors within Evolvement go on to follow our future paths we know that there will be some great Evolvers and that the mission is far from over. Overall, I would say if there’s a great opportunity in your grasp, reach out and take it. Lastly, I would like to thank everyone for reading and a massive thank you to all my friends and team leaders for helping me along throughout this amazing journey and experience to help make New Mexico a better and safer place to live and helping our schools stay tobacco free 24 hours a day 7 days a week.

My name is Olivia Fowler, and I am a sophomore at Portales High School. This is my first year as an Evolver. I was introduced to Evolvement through a member of PHS’ Evolvement Leadership Team, Cali Walker. She explained the main purpose of the Evolvement campaign (prevention of sale to and use of tobacco products to minors), and it struck me as something I thought I would be interested in, especially since I have had firsthand experience with youth tobacco use and how it can ruin their lives before they even have a chance to begin. But Evolvement can help with a lot of other things than just preventing tobacco use by minors. Public speaking, team-building, and even seeing things from the perspective of a person in charge are all things that hooked me to the Evolvement program. (Plus, the cool prizes you get by earning points are definitely a bonus.)  I have a lot of friends in Evolvement, and they help me to reach the goals I’ve set for myself since becoming an Evolver.

The first contact I had with the Evolvement community was on Thursday, October 7, 2021, at our district Evolvement Training. Our Youth Field Organizer, Amanda, explained in a little more detail what the Evolvement program stands for. We had a lot of fun; Amanda told jokes and made us laugh whenever we had a bit of free time. My favorite activity we did was when we watched a few short videos about a topic assigned to us and answered questions to the group. This was my favorite activity because of all of the different topics the groups dealt with. It had never occurred to me all the ways tobacco companies market to the public, whether it be through Native American or black “representation”, flavored products to attract younger buyers, or even the “discount” of certain tobacco products. My group’s videos were about how tobacco companies use flavors and false marketing to persuade people to purchase their products. I have experienced this firsthand, as some of my friends use vapes with flavors such as bubble gum and menthol. This is an extreme issue for me, as I know that kids are attracted to things they find appealing to the senses, especially the sense of taste.

The main purpose of Evolvement is to educate minors on the dangers of tobacco sale and use. I think this is a huge issue, especially with today’s population of minors. I have seen and heard of many minors using drugs such as weed and marijuana, and it is undoubtedly affecting how they see their own lives and the lives of others. Being a part of Evolvement has not only let me know the dangers of early tobacco use, but it has also improved my public speaking skills. Evolvers are a part of not only a community, but a family, and the fact that we are all fighting together for a worthwhile cause is the greatest gift of all.

Hey, what’s up. My name is Corazzon Medina, I am currently attending Pecos Connections Academy and this is going to be my second year in Evolvement. I decided to join the Leadership Team because not only did I want to be part of a change, but I wanted to make a change in my community and New Mexico as a whole. Through the Leadership Summit I have gained a little more confidence. I also feel like I am ready to finally be more involved in my community and now, with the help of Evolvement, I know how to do that. Evolvement has helped me with my people skills and has given me the confidence to tell more people about Evolvement and everything we do so that they can join us and help us too. The reason why I decided to join Evolvement was because I had always wanted to make a change that would help a lot of people, but I never knew what I could do. Then Evolvement had a presentation at my school and I knew that if I joined Evolvement, not only would I be helping my community, but I would be helping teens my age, the next generation in our world. Stopping sales to minors and stopping the use of not only tobacco products but flavored tobacco products in school would help lower the number of students getting addicted to tobacco and having to live with that the rest of their lives. Stopping the use of flavored tobacco products would lower sales because the flavors are what appeals to the minors buying the products. I go to school with teens that started using tobacco products because of the flavors and only for the flavors. Join us and help stop the use of tobacco products in school and help stop the sales to minors.

Hi, my name is Violet Ramos and I am a senior at Gadsden High School in Anthony, NM! I have been a member of Evolvement since my freshman year and have been an active member all 4 years of high school, and of course finally decided to join the leadership team my senior year. I have to say that these 4 years in Evolvement truly have been so much fun and overall a great experience as well as a way for me to grow as a leader and member of my school and community. As I said before, it took me 3 years to decide to join the leadership team but the months leading up to the final steps were the moments I knew I wanted to become an official state leader in the program! As a member in my school, I felt that I had already been such an involved Evolver before and knew that as a leader there would be so many more opportunities that would be available for me. Plus, I had the support of my Campaign Managers and Youth Field Organizers all throughout high school which helped me gain a bit more confidence in myself and in attending the Leadership Summit. Although in all honesty, if it wasn’t for Zoom, I’m not too sure if I would have even taken part. Just kidding! Yes, Zoom did help make attending a lot easier but either way, I would have chosen to take part in the Summit nonetheless because I thought it would have been such a great experience! 

Now as I said before, this is my first year as a Leadership Team member but I will say, as an Evolvement member I have been given so many opportunities at school and in my community to help both spread awareness on a very important subject in New Mexico as well as build my confidence and leadership skills which have then helped me in my everyday life as well. One experience that I have to say was one of my favorites and also probably the most nerve racking was speaking to the state representatives for Day at the Capitol. When I participated it was virtual so it was of course much different than what I would have experienced, but speaking to these representatives allowed me to really break out of my comfort zone and show that even youth show concern for things like the illegal sale of tobacco to minors or the policies that schools have in regards to the use and possession of tobacco products. I also feel that as a member I was able to get an idea of what speaking to someone other than community members feels like. Before, I was used to speaking to people that I already knew and this was a whole new experience for me! I had such a great time speaking with all the representatives but also was glad to have been given the opportunity because I feel that as a member of Evolvement, I will be able to say that I did something for my community in my high school career which I would say is one of my greatest accomplishments. 

Overall, I think that being an Evolvement member is a huge accomplishment in itself but if you are ever given the opportunity, join the Leadership Team! Much of what I have done throughout high school doesn’t compare to the things I have done just within the past year as a Leadership Team member! I have been able to strengthen my leadership skills as well as have an impact on my school and my community as someone who has shown concern for the health and safety of our New Mexico youth. Plus, if you plan on doing something amazing in your future, just think of how great being an active community member would look on a college application! I truly feel that in participating I have become a better person and a much stronger leader, as well as just having support from all the people in Evolvement as well as the Campaign Managers and Youth Field Organizers! Evolvement really is a community thing and as I’m writing this and as you may be reading this, I hope you consider taking part in the community that is the Evolvement organization! 

Hello, my name is Tearza Valencia! I am a senior at Grants High School and a dual enrollment student at NMSU- Grants Branch. Although I’m still in my first year of Evolvement, I have already been accepted as an Evolvement New Mexico Leadership Team (ENMLT) member. I applied to be a member of the ENMLT after considering all of the opportunities that would be available, including the Leadership Summit sessions. I knew that the whole purpose of the Leadership Summit was to expand members’ professional and personal skills, which sounded like a great way to spend my summer! I also looked forward to getting to know the Evolvement team and their mission in a more interpersonal way.

         As expected, my Leadership Summit experience has been informative, fun, and inspiring! Not only do I understand what is being asked of me as a changemaker, but I also have a clear idea of how to accomplish it. I have also been made aware of the fact that just because I am a leader, I am not expected to have everything figured out. This means that ENMLT members are encouraged to network and bond with each other, which has made our Social Sessions interesting. I’ve learned cool facts about my team, including their many hobbies and favorite songs. I have even heard their testimonies about why they joined Evolvement and why they are passionate about its objectives. In my opinion, that was the best part of every meeting because it made the connection between us all apparent. It was also motivating to learn about all the hard work every member has put into this one organization’s movement.

         Thanks to my Summit experience, I have improved in a few categories including leadership, advocating through social media, and public speaking. I understand that taking initiative is an important quality of a good leader. I learned that connecting to others through social media and print-based media is vital to successful advocacy. I gained knowledge about rapport building, power poses and leading the conversation when speaking to others regarding Evolvement’s purpose and goals.

I know that everything I’ve learned during this experience will benefit me in the present as well as in the future. From meeting with my principal to hosting an event at my school, I will demonstrate the skills and confidence that attending the Leadership Summit helped me expand. I truly cannot wait to see what the ENMLT, including myself, accomplishes this year!

Hello all of you amazing people! I want to take a moment to say I’m really happy! Why? Because I’ve recently gotten to have the experience of a lifetime. One of my best friends recently quit vaping and I was a part of why he stopped. A few months ago, I asked him to take a quick survey: www.surveymonkey.com/r/NMS_survey_FY22. 

This survey asks questions about tobacco products being sold to minors. After taking the survey he talked to me about his own issues with vaping, and how he just couldn’t seem to quit, then again, he never tried. That was the problem. After talking he took it upon himself, without telling anyone, including me, to quit the habit. He said taking the survey and reading through what it tells you at the end, opened his eyes as to how harmful tobacco products could be. Even though he had only started a year ago, he noticed that he didn’t have as much energy as he used to. He and I hadn’t talked for a month and a half, then he called and told me he had “done it.”

“Done what?” I asked, confused by how he started the conversation.

“I quit vaping!”

Those words might not mean much to you, but in my eyes, I just helped one of my best friends and I didn’t even know it. I’m still completely shocked, and happy just by having a simple conversation. By him saying that he quit because of a little survey I asked him to take, made me want to continue helping people and continue getting people’s attention on how tobacco really does affect people’s lives. He inspired me to put myself out there and make that difference. In all honesty, I can’t say that I knew tobacco affected people that quickly, but hearing it from him, a 17-year-old, opened my eyes too. Working with No Minor Sale has changed my life even though I don’t use tobacco products. If you asked me a year ago to go out and ask random people to take a survey, I would have said no. Now here I am, wondering how many other lives I’ve helped change. I guess it’s true, you really do learn things every day.

The link above is specific for New Mexico residents. In this survey, it asks if the survey taker is concerned about minors using tobacco products, if flavored tobacco products are safer than traditional products, if flavors are more appealing to minors, and if tobacco products target certain races, and populations. If you want to be part of the change, please click the link above and take the survey. It takes less than five minutes. If you do decide to take the survey, my evolvement ID is: 18155. You will need this ID at the end of the survey.

Good bye for now!

Hi! My name is Genoveva Gallegos or Genny for short. I am a senior at Pecos Connections Academy and I am from Tucumcari, New Mexico. I have been with the Evolvement team for 4 years, but have been on the leadership team for 2 years. Evolvement is a youth led program for students, like me, in high school to advocate against tobacco in our schools and communities. With the help of the Evolvement crew, I can help bring change to New Mexico to make it a safer and healthier place to live.

         As a youth leader I have attended a summit training to help me prepare for meetings with principals, law makers, and other students to help educate and put policies in place to ensure safety of students and families across the state of New Mexico. At Summit, I am given tools to help me throughout each year and I also get to have some fun along the way as well. I do group sessions with the other members of the team and the Evolvement staff to relax, get to know each other, and have some fun together. I joined the Leadership Team in 2020, so unfortunately, I couldn’t meet with them in person for Summit that year or in the current year, 2021. I’ve done it all through Zoom, but despite it being online I have still learned a lot and gained a lot of skills.

         I know what you may be wondering, what kind of skills does the Evolvement program teach? Well, for me personally, my struggles have always been public speaking and social interaction especially in professional settings. With the Evolvement team I have learned to become better at those specific skills. Although I still struggle in these two areas, I can say that I have overcome a lot to become more comfortable. Before meetings, such as with lawmakers, they have taught me how to prepare and they practice it with me prior to the meetings and I even practice on my own. This has helped me with my social skills and public speaking skills.

For any student just starting or those who are already in high school and looking to better their social skills and public speaking skills and looking to make a change, Evolvement is a great start to step into the path to do so. It has been a great opportunity to help bring change against big tobacco industries to help keep my community and family from the dangers and risks of tobacco use.

Hi! My name is Rio Romero and this year I will be a sophomore at Los Lunas High School. I joined Evolvement October of my freshman year. I’ve really enjoyed being a part of a movement that is going to make change.

      I’ve already done so much with Evolvement, and I haven’t even been a member for a year yet. Because of coronavirus, events have been limited to Zoom meetings. But that hasn’t stopped us from still finding ways to advocate and have our voices heard. I’ve presented over Zoom about five times already with the Virtual Day of Action being one of them. 

Although I do enjoy Zoom meetings, I was excited to get the opportunity to be a part of a live event. I signed up right away! This event was through our No Minor Sale campaign. We had a tent at the Juneteenth festival at Civic Plaza in Albuquerque. Me and my fellow Evolver, Jazelle Basped, were in charge of getting people to take No Minor Sale opinion surveys using the iPads that were given to us. At first, I was feeling pretty shy but by the end of the day I was having no problem talking and asking people to take our surveys. The festival had live music which was so cool and I really enjoyed getting to talk with Jazelle. I would do the event again in a heartbeat, and it’s just a really good feeling to know that I am a part of making a healthier community.

Hi! My name is Ariana Salguero. I attend Portales High School in Portales, New Mexico. I joined Evolvement my sophomore year when a fellow Leadership Team member told me about Evolvement (hey Cali!!). I have been in Evolvement for one year and this is my first year on the Leadership Team. Joining this organization during a pandemic was very eye-opening to me, to see people trying to make change through a worldwide virus outbreak.

         Joining during a pandemic was the best thing I ever did. It got me out of my shell. It let me meet people from all around my state with my busy school schedule and let me build a bridge to people through my computer. Even though I prefer more in-person events, I enjoyed all the virtual training and hangouts that I have been to.  The leadership summit has been a very enjoyable experience because it is so nice to see kids from my school try and make changes as well as getting to have group texts with new friends from other schools. I also love exchanging accomplishments and seeing what I want to try to achieve with my journey in Evolvement the rest of my high school career. 

Being a part of Evolvement has shown me to be less selfish, look beyond myself and at my peers and my community members. Also, something that has stuck out to me since my first training was to watch tobacco ads and promotional videos with a different lens and how they target minorities and young adults. This has shown me to look at every single ad, product, and commercial from a different point of view. I can speak out, talk to legislators, promote tobacco-free schools through 24/7, and the harmful effects of flavored tobacco products on teenagers through No Minor Sale. I’ve learned that I have the opportunity to make a difference and that getting my voice heard is possible.