Aaliyah Victoria is a senior who is very involved in the Bonita Vista High (BVH) community. She holds several leadership positions in clubs on campus such as President of Green Team, Junior Optimist as well as Youth 4 Sustainable Future (Y4SF). Victoria is also involved in various other clubs and extracurriculars such as the French Club and BVH Get to The Pointe! (GTP) Dance teams.
“I kind of knew from the beginning that I wanted to be involved [in the community]. Starting in elementary and middle school, I have always wanted to be in clubs. It is something that has been a consistent thing,” Victoria said.
In middle school, Victoria met Green Team vice president, Y4SF vice president and senior Marvin Canton but they did not become close friends until sophomore year of highschool. Both students share a passion for the same clubs like Green Team, Y4SF, Junior Optimist and French club. Canton describes how Victoria and him work together to create changes in the community.
“We talk about events we want to host such as this week’s climate week and other events to promote the club and our values. Apart from that, Victoria and I work on creating resolutions to pass at the district like past club leaders at BVH. We talk about events for South Bay Sustainable communities and how to promote it. We communicate a lot about events and opportunities. I am like her right hand man for these clubs,” Canton said.
Victoria initially decided to join these clubs her freshman year while taking Accelerated Biology which is taught by Advance Placement (AP) Environmental Science, International Baccalaureate (IB) Environmental Systems and Societies (IB ESS), Biology teacher and BVH Y4SF and Green Team club advisor Jennifer Ekstein. The two reunited after Victoria decided to take IB ESS and join some of the environmental and sustainable clubs Ekstein advises.
“As an advisor, I am here to guide, make things run smoothly, take Victoria’s ideas and help her implement them. I feel like I am more or less a support [system] to her. For any of her ideas, which are usually amazing, I try to make it happen,” Ekstein said.
Victoria has volunteered at many outside events, two of her favorites being South Bay Sustainable and Bonita Optimist which partners with BVH Junior Optimist. Over the course of time, Victoria has accumulated over 300 hours of community service.
“She is obviously an amazing and talented individual. I think my favorite things are when we go to the Y4SF events, and she is always there. It is always good to see her and see her working and being an activist in her community,” Ekstein said.
Through Victoria’s achievement of having over 250 volunteer hours, she has earned the gold presidential award. The purpose of this award is to honor individuals whose service positively impacts the community.
“It was definitely interesting [receiving the award]. One day I was volunteering with Y4SF founder Tina Matthias and she said, ‘How many hours do you have?’ And then she really pushed for the award,” Victoria said.
Through volunteering, Victoria has been able to experience memorable moments and achievements over the past year. One of Victoria’s favorite moments was participating in Dance for a Cure, a fundraising event run by Junior Optimist.
“My sophomore year, we were able to raise $11,000 for Kids cancer research. Then this previous year, we were able to raise $14,000. So I’m hoping to continue to increase that amount as the years go on,” Victoria said.
In the club Y4SF, Victoria has been able to understand and learn new experiences and the impact it has in the Chula Vista community. She has been able to use these experiences to encourage others to do their part in the community as well.
“Seeing the actual impact our volunteering has with South Bay or Y4SF alone is great. With the schools that were in, we were able to divert around 10,000 pounds of rescued food that would end up in our landfills. Seeing those numbers really pushed me to continue to teach other people about it as well,” Victoria said.
These experiences allowed Victoria to gain new leadership skills and qualities. Since volunteering, Victoria states that she is now able to communicate with others better and properly express emotions whether it be in a room full of people or teaching others about the community.
“It was in IB ESS, when I really started to see Victoria blossom and take on climate activism and a very active role in her community. As a senior, she is an amazing role model in her community. Because I was her teacher, seeing her transform education and actually become an activist is my goal for everyone. She has just superseded that,” Ekstein said.
Canton states that Victoria and he are out every weekend either doing clean ups in Chula Vista or running tables at bigger events about South Bay sustainable communities. The duo educates the community about proper management of food waste and in school training, teaching what they do at BVH. They have contributed to the community through advocacy, action and focus on doing their part for their community. Canton speaks on one of his favorite recent memories with Victoria.
“My favorite memory with Victoria definitely has to be when we spoke at City Council about single use plastic reduction ordinance. It was so much fun even though we were terrified, we were there supporting each other,” Canton said.
Victoria states that she does not volunteer for the amount of hours, it is to contribute her part in the community. This is what Ekstein sees most valuable as BVH students should not restrict themselves to only get 30 hours of community service to graduate.
“Students get focused on things in their own little world. It takes a lot of effort and thinking outside the box to dedicate yourself to helping others. I think [Victoria is] well beyond her peers when it comes to becoming active and a volunteer,” Ekstein said.“ I hope that when people see the amount of volunteerism and work she puts in outside of school, they will be motivated as well.”
