Andres Avendano
Annandale High
This program means that we are representing goals and ideas of the Museum. We have to get the message out to our community in order to be a community in action.
The Stephen Tyrone Johns Summer Youth Leadership ambassadors come from all backgrounds, but they share a common purpose: to educate others and honor the legacy of Officer Johns. We invite you to learn more about this group of outstanding young men and women and to read their inspirational words.
Being a Stephen Tyrone Johns Summer Youth Leadership ambassador means that I am no longer a bystander, but someone who is able to speak up against genocide, someone who is able to make a difference, not just in my community, but in other communities as well.
This program means that we are representing goals and ideas of the Museum. We have to get the message out to our community in order to be a community in action.
As an ambassador, I would like to make people more aware of the injustices that are occurring around the world. We can apply the lessons learned from this history to help educate others about current genocide and other crimes across the world.
I joined the program because I heard that it was a great learning experience that opens me up to many new perspectives and because it teaches great leadership skills as well as presentation skills.
Being a Stephen Tyrone Johns ambassador means to me that I have a duty to myself, my instructors, my fellow ambassadors, and my community to take a stand and make a difference.
Being a Stephen Tyrone Johns Summer Youth Leadership ambassador means a lot to me. It means that I am a teacher and a leader. It means that I should not be a bystander.
I hold leadership positions in many school organizations including president of It’s Academic!, secretary of the Key Club, officer of STAND, literary coeditor of Filament, parliamentarian of NHS, and president of SSHS, MHS, and Just World. In addition, I participate in other youth organizations, such as Girl Scouts Troop 4010, Thang Long Vietnamese School, and VYEA Vietnamese School.
Being a Stephen Tyrone Johns ambassador means to take more responsibility than I usually do. I have to show others that hatred still exists today and we can and have to change the way we think about others.
It means to me the importance of being a good citizen and not being a bystander. Now more than ever you must stand and be a leader. Be the person people look up to. Be the person to help someone in the face of danger. Being a good citizen, a good person, and to be educated and humble.
For me, becoming a Stephen Tyrone Johns ambassador means that I will become more aware and opened-minded about the world around me.
Being a Stephen Tyrone Johns Summer Youth Leadership ambassador is a reminder of my responsibility of being a leader and bringing the lessons home and making a positive change to my community.
As an Officer Stephen Tyrone Johns ambassador, I will give back to my community by continuing to stay in touch with members of my school’s STAND chapter after graduation. I will continue to take part in fundraisers such as benefit concerts and Walk for Darfur.
I joined this program to learn more about the Holocaust and the background of my family. I was hoping to draw connections with what my mother’s side of the family went through and what I was going to learn.
Being a Stephen Tyrone Johns ambassador means that I must uphold my duty as a leader and be a supporter of justice in our society. Like Officer Johns, I will have bravery and integrity and will stand up for what I believe in.
In school I am in the International Baccalaureate Diploma Program, a member of the National Honor Society, the Spanish Club, and president of the class of 2012.
There are absolutely no limits to this program. If you are thinking about joining, you should. It is an experience everyone should have.
As an Officer Stephen Tyrone Johns ambassador, I will dedicate my time to speaking out against genocide and discrimination. I commit myself to confronting and preventing any acts of discrimination I happen to encounter.
Representing Stephen T. Johns is an honor. I am proud to be able to carry on his legacy as a youth ambassador. Just as he was, I am the face the world doesn't see. The Future. I have the ability to change our generations to come. I want no recognition for these acts of kindness and awareness because I merely am achieving the norm and what people should do everyday.
Being a part of the Stephen Tyrone Johns Leadership Program is an opportunity for me to be a part of history. Not only do I get to learn about the tragic history of the Holocaust but I get to teach others, which is the most important aspect in change, progression, and education.
I joined this program because I wanted to learn about the Holocaust. I wanted to be able to learn how to teach others what I learned during my studies.
To have become an ambassador for the rest of my life means that I have dedicated my life to upholding the Legacy of Officer Stephen T. Johns. I have become a member of his extended family, and I must incorporate some of the great traits that Officer Johns possessed into my own life as well.
I hope to accomplish so much from being an ambassador. I want to make a new me… I want to have a different perspective on the events in this world. I want to have new knowledge to help heighten my understanding of this world.
Apart from being a student ambassador, I am also vice president for peer tutoring for the National Honor Society. The lessons that I’ve learned at the Holocaust Museum will help me give everyone an opportunity to succeed no matter who they are or what problems they may have.
I joined the program because I wanted to learn more about the Holocaust. I also wanted to make a stand and show what I do matters.
This means a lot to me. Our 2010 ambassador group is acknowledging the legacy of Stephen Tyrone Johns.
It means a lot to me to be a Johns ambassador because I get to work where a man protected other people's lives. He made sure that we worked in a place that was safe. I am very grateful that I get to work in the same place as a man who served to protect.
I joined the program so that I could further my understanding of the Holocaust. At my school I learned about the Holocaust but we only focused on the history of America.
Currently I am the vice president of the class of 2012 at Benjamin Banneker Academic High School. I am a National Capitol Coalition to Prevent Underage Drinking Youth Advocate. I am also a Teens Against the Spread of Aids Youth ambassador and a Stephen Tyrone Johns Youth ambassador.
I wanted to expand my knowledge of Holocaust history in order to become a better leader and speaker and to become more open-minded.
I wanted to do more research about misconceptions that I had about the Holocaust. Also, I think it’s interesting how you can preserve the memory of a people and teach it to so many others.
I am on the leadership team for the Campus Kitchen Project at my school, Gonzaga. I am ServSafe certified so I am allowed to lead my peers preparing meals without an adult leader. I serve as a youth lector at my church, Saint James. I also serve as a den leader in Boy Scouts Troop 681.
As an Officer Stephen Tyrone Johns ambassador, I plan to reach out to the community and talk to people about the lessons of the Holocaust and teach them even more. I plan to explain to my community what occurred during this time and how it affects us today.
Events like the Holocaust and the genocides in Rwanda and Darfur are constant reminders of how inhumane this world can be. The question arises again, “What are you going to do about these heinous crimes?” One thing is certain, by being an ambassador; I will be able to answer that question with my actions!
I feel that by participating and becoming an ambassador, I will be educated better on the events of the Holocaust and other genocides. I will be able to learn from the lessons of this history and incorporate them into my life. I will develop life skills and be able to interact well with others.
This program allows teenagers to explore a part in history that most kids our age don't receive in school. This is why I applied.
At my school, I was involved with the book club and school newspaper. I co-led the book club for over two years and as coeditor-in-chief of the school newspaper, I helped transition our paper to an online green version. At my synagogue, I tutor kids for their bar or bat mitzvahs.
Being a Stephen Tyrone Johns ambassador means making a change in my community. It means coming together as one. Different people changing and understanding not to become a bystander.
Being an ambassador to me means that I am a leader and a risk taker. It means that I am here to make a difference and my purpose here is to educate others on the Holocaust and how to prevent similar events like it from happening in the future, because what I do matters.
This program means that I pass the history of the Holocaust to future generations so that nobody can forget this history.
I currently hold the position of president for the STAND chapter at my school. I am also in the Math Honor Society and the French Honor Society.
Being able to learn is a great power. A yearning to be educated is what drives me. Being an ambassador will allow me the opportunity to learn more about the history of the Holocaust and how its importance is relevant today. I am thrilled to be a part of this program.
Being an ambassador to me means being a conscious and responsible leader in my community and standing up against injustice anywhere. To me, it is about learning more about others and ourselves, and finding ways to connect important lessons from our shared history so we can work toward a more peaceful world.
As an Officer Stephen Tyrone Johns ambassador, I plan on speaking out against inequalities and hatred against my fellow man. I plan to Bring the Lessons Home to my school and community.
As an Officer Stephen Tyrone Johns ambassador, I plan on giving back to my community by volunteering for the less fortunate. I will share what I have learned from this program with my community. This will get them more involved in making a difference in their community by standing up for what they believe in.
I will cherish being an ambassador. I will use this experience to the best of my ability. I want my family and generations to come to visit this museum and experience what I have been able to experience.
The reason I joined the program is because I wanted to teach people my age what could happen if we let another genocide take place again.
I joined for diversity, to try new things, for a future career, to learn more, to meet new people, and to go new places.
I joined the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum because I wanted to further my education of the Holocaust. I knew the general story but I wanted to know what motivated people enough to to act with such hatred toward people who had done nothing.
I founded a STAND for conscience chapter at my school and will serve as president for two years. I am the school's delegate and historian for the Fairfax County Student Human Rights Commission. I've been a long-time activist of Invisible Children and Resolve Uganda, which both work toward ending the war in northern Uganda.
