Mario Contreras & Adam Malacara

POSITIVE PEER INFLUENCE WINNER 2006
Nicole Pritchard
Nicole “Nikki” Pritchard is a sophomore at Mountain View High School and has taken on several high-profile leadership roles in her community.  She is a member of the City of Mountain View Youth Advisory Group (YAG), the City of Mountain View Public Library Teen Advisory Group (TAG) and the Santa Clara County Coalition Against Teen Tobacco (CATT).  Through YAG and TAG, she and her peers select youth in the community who exemplify particular assets, then recognize them on the bulletin board at the Library’s Teen Zone.  This has increased the awareness of assets as well as inspired more teens to build assets and become positive peer influences.  Her work with CATT helped the City of Mountain View receive Santa Clara County’s highest grade on the “tobacco report card”, an award Nikki publicized by planning and implementing a press conference.

Nikki was an instrumental part of the 2005 Mayor’s Youth Conference, which brought together 120 local teens and 40 adults to learn how to work across generations in order to build developmental assets.  Her ideas and perspectives are also printed in the pages of the Mountain View Voice newspaper, where she has contributed to its Youth Voice section.

Nikki has a significant impact on her peers in much less public ways as well.  At school she refuses to be swayed by negative peer pressure and is known for befriending others who may feel marginalized because of appearance, ethnicity, or sexual orientation.  Her nominator describes Nikki in terms that define a positive peer influence. “When her peers witness the success that Nikki achieves, I see them being more willing to take on responsibility themselves.”

POSITIVE PEER INFLUENCE WINNERS 2006
Mario Contreras & Adam Malacara
Mario Contreras and Adam Malacara literally grew up at San Jose’s East Valley Family YMCA.  With no other viable babysitting alternatives, the young boys would come to the YMCA with their older sisters, who served as committee members on the teen steering committee.  As they got older, Mario and Adam became involved in various YMCA programs, first as camp attendees, then as camp counselors, big brothers and adult role models.

Adam and Mario both attend Mt. Pleasant High School where they play on the basketball team, maintain good grades and juggle busy personal lives.  Still, they willingly give up their Saturday mornings to coach teams for the Youth Sports Program and they spend their spring breaks working with underprivileged youth in the area.  They also sit on “Teen Voices”, the YMCA’s Teen Advisory Council, and have recruited several of their friends to serve as well.  Mario and Adam exhibit enthusiasm and strong leadership skills in all that they do, from managing the 40-foot rock climbing wall to heading up a team of teens to be involved in the YMCA’s annual community support campaign.

Today, at ages 15 and 16, Mario and Adam are the YMCA’s youngest paid staff members and are fondly referred to by other staffers as the “Y Teens”.  But, their tireless dedication to giving back to the community proves that you do not have to be a certain age to serve as an inspiration for all.