New York State Fair 2025 | MyImpact Challenge Video

0:12 so right now we’re actually setting up MyImpact Challenge fair. I’m really excited to see this coming about, and it’s so crazy that us as three girls are just, like, putting this event together. I really did not think like, I would ever, like, be able to do any of this. It’s crazy to see it coming together. I’m so happy and excited for tomorrow. So originally I had a different kind of a different idea for what I did today,

0:35 but I still had the original idea of getting more kids like involved. When we started working on it, it kind of just, I don’t know how. It just snowballed into us holding a fair at the end of it. I’m very, excited to see all my classmates and their projects like I’ve seen since September, how their projects have grown,

0:55 and I really am excited to see how they’re going to be able to showcase it. Hoping to see more kids being involved, maybe more students joining Academy of Public Service and being able to be involved more. So from a like individualistic standpoint, I feel like all of us are a part of this program which has us volunteer and like, advocate for our voices and our community.

1:19 And we’re involved in a lot of things in our school and also outside of our school, just generally in New York. And from an outside standpoint, I feel like this event would inspire young people to feel like they can make a difference in their community, and that it’ll maybe give them some connections where they can, personally get involved in ways that they maybe haven’t tried before.

1:44 I’m hoping the students that are presenting tomorrow learn that like they’ve done a lot for our community, and they can continue doing that throughout, like the future and realize that they’ve actually made a difference in our community. I just want to give you a heads up of what this day is going to looks like.

2:05 So you can have an idea of where we’re going, what we’re doing. So, at 9:45 between about 9:45 and 10:00. We’re going to start with the judges coming around. They’re going to take a look at your posters. They might ask questions and bring up opening statements. Okay. So when you go to do your trifold or your elevator pitch, you’re going to bring your trifold board with you. You’re going to have it here to give your presentation someone will walk you back.

2:27 In between that time, there will be classes starting with your period coming in here to see your posters. I really encourage you to take the time to make sure you are talking about your project answering questions. That’s a very informal means, right? Students are going to come see what you did. My vision is to get kids to where they are, feel

2:50 like they’re heard in their community, and their problems get solved. And also just to really help out like it’s nothing wrong with helping out at a young age. A lot of kids think that they can’t do it or they can’t make a difference. But you, you really can. As I feel like I’ve always been civically engaged in my community, I just never really realized it was civic engagement because I didn’t know what it meant until I started doing this projects.

3:11 And when we started researching, I was like, wait, like, I’ve actually done a lot in my community and I enjoyed, like, every part of it because I like helping people. And it’s a good way to see that I’m making a difference for my community.

3:34 Thank you all for joining. Us at our Civics Fair. This is our first civics fair. It’s brought to us by a project from the students and how great is that that are projects celebrating student engagement was created by students themselves. And so today is all about empowerment.

3:54 Today it’s about young voices. Lots of young voices making a difference, not being discounted, not waiting until you’re older to make a change and seeing your power in the system and look at the amazing things that you and your peers have done. And I think that’s tremendous. So I’m so impressed by the work.

4:16 That’s been done together, so impressed by each of these boards and what it means for what young people can achieve. And I know it’s no secret, you guys are the change makers, you guys should not be discounted. So today you get to celebrate that and share it. I’m beyond proud, this is after the fair.

4:39 I’m so proud of everyone who participated. I’m proud of, like us, three girls from diverse backgrounds to like host the fair like this. I’m so proud of everybody that won and I just can’t wait for it to happen in the future. So I feel like I realized that a lack of civic engagement was an issue in our community through our program,

5:01 because we’ve been so civically engaged that I kind of found it as a new norm. And then speaking to a lot of my peers and classmates, I realized that they don’t feel interconnected with their community, and they feel very, they feel like they can’t make a difference. They kind of feel like young voices aren’t as important or as essential to the development of, like, our country or in general.

5:22 And I felt like, kind of surprised by that. And I felt like they need to learn that, you know, they’re not just teenagers. We’re growing into adults. We’re going into the workforce. We’re going into our country as like individuals. We’re not just kids anymore. And I feel like civic engagement is a good transition into that and a good milestone to kind of bring you to understand

5:43 the responsibilities that you’ll have as just a person in America. And then I feel like this fair will be a good solution to start that, because it’ll bring young voices to the forefront and it’ll bring young people’s projects to the forefront where they are civically engaged and they are involved in their community. They’ve made a difference. They feel like they can do something, they feel important.

6:05 And I think other students seeing that might come to the realization that, oh, I’m not just a kid, you know, I can make a difference. I can, create an impact in my community.