Hello! My name is Paiuma Teton, pronounced Pie-You-Ma. I’m a Junior at Arrowhead Park Early College High School and have been in Evolvement for three years, since my Freshman year! I joined Evolvement for many reasons, one being the fact that Evolvement is a youth engagement movement that strives to promote a healthy New Mexico, another is that Evolvement works to encourage all schools to be nicotine and tobacco-free, and lastly, Evolvement gives you the opportunity to earn jaw-dropping rewards for the work you put in, such as scholarships, electronics and anything you can imagine! The process of joining Evolvement is very simple, all you need to do is fill out a 3-5-minute form and get a parent to sign the parent permission form. Easy peasy! In addition, my friends are participating in this club. It makes me feel confident in what’s right and knowing that not only I care for our youth, but others do too, especially my friends!
Before becoming an Evolvement member, all of us must go through training. Training is where all students who are interested in becoming members will learn how to become a youth advocate and how they can change their community. Training is not as scary as it sounds. It’s an enriching process that is fun, educational, and welcoming! Training at APECHS was in January and was highly successful. Everyone learned new things, we all got to engage in lively discussions plus activities, and then we were rewarded with Subway to satisfy our hunger. Moreover, my favorite part of January’s training was engaging with new people I’ve never talked to!
As I recall January’s training, I realized that the students who came to training were all of different ages and grades and are personally willing to help and teach other New Mexico students and New Mexico as a whole about the dangers of tobacco and nicotine use. As one of the leaders at APECHS, I want to say that Evolvement is a fantastic club that will immerse you in countless opportunities. Take the chance to join Evolvement to meet amazing people and to grow your independent personal goals.
