(Seguin) — A group of seniors is hoping that its Destination Imagination Team Project is more than just an attempt at first place but that is brings upon real change – change that could potentially save lives.
Seguin High School’s University DI team is utilizing its problem solving and presentation skills to create a community wide campaign against human trafficking.
Senior Emily Delarosa says the group hopes to take what it has found in its investigation and unveil the threats that exist here in our community.
“We thought that that’s probably one community need that our city needs to be more aware about so in the interview, we learned that human trafficking can happen anywhere. That’s probably a miss some people can make and not only are women targeted for human trafficking but also children and other undocumented individuals.
There is a term called human smuggling and labor trafficking and we discussed about some education the officers are given. So, law enforcements are receiving training and the governor is pretty proactive about them having this training,” said Delarosa.
Senior Leo Deleon says this community wide campaign is designed to later unfold on stage when the group takes what it has learned and presents it before a panel of judges.
“So, for DI, we have a selection of choices that we can choose to compete and we really like to do this one. It’s a community service so that we can help our community, learn a little more about our community and we chose human trafficking because it is very serious and it’s not talked about enough and we need to spread awareness and help it from not happening anymore and try to stop that problem,” said Deleon.
Deleon says the competition will be more than just research and statistics. He says the students also plan on showcasing upcoming community events and fundraisers that have been scheduled.
“We do community events and then we gather information about our topic and then we create a script and perform it for the judges and they judge us on the criteria of information presented and how it is presented and based on that it, it is our creativity and information that is collected that they judge us and we go to regionals and if we get out of regionals, then we go to state and if then if we get out of state, then we go to globals and then we compete against the whole world basically,” said Deleon.
Senior Adrian Martinez says in doing this community wide campaign, the group also chose to bring awareness to a local non-profit that plays a vital role in crimes against women including human trafficking issues.
“After we came up with the idea for human trafficking, we had to come up with some ideas on how we could help the community and either bring awareness to the problem or try to help people that are in need because of this problem. So, a couple of the ideas that we had were helping with the women’s shelter here and we decided to try to raise funds for them whether that be for clothes, blankets because a lot of them that go through these issues don’t have much support or resources so we are trying to raise money and collaborate with as many groups as we can for this cause,” said Martinez.
After having many projects in which to choose from, Martinez says human trafficking proved worthy of being shared among his peers.
“What started it off was we were talking about how as young children, we have to often get tracked a lot by our parents just for our safety. That statement made us think how back then, people didn’t really have to wonder where their kids were all the time. They would go out and they’d play, and they would come back before dawn but nowadays, you have to keep up with your children because there are a lot of threats and bad people out there,” said Martinez.
Senior Melissa Chapa says raising money for the Family violence Shelter was important for the group. She says it was their way of ensuring that support was created through this project.
“Instead of trying to specifically go and try and help the victims because that would be dangerous for us, we decided that it would be best if we would raise funds for the women’s shelter or try and see what we could do to just come together as a community and try to get all of the community together to try and raise awareness for sex trafficking, human trafficking because it’s all around us. But I know all of us for sure did not know that there is a lot of sex trafficking and human trafficking going around until we decided to research it and saw that it is (happening) here,” said Chapa.
Chapa says the real lessons learned locally are what she hopes will help drive this campaign even further.
“I think one of the key factors that we are going to highlight is making sure that you are extra careful like right now, we are all over on social media and we are not really familiar with anybody that follows us or tries to request us and so I think we have to be extra careful – even small children that are on social media or on the internet. We need to watch out for strangers that are trying to get at us,” said Chapa.
Senior Kayla Zambrano says realizing that Seguin is not immune to violence against women is the first step in raising the awareness for domestic violence and sex trafficking.
“We looked up the statistics. We looked up where it is happening, how it is happening, the warning signs and all that. Like I said before, with the statistics, I feel what really needs to be said specifically with the statistics are so especially they went up during the pandemic. The number of clients they served in 2021 was astonishing. It was actually, 5,751 and the cost in ER was 61 and nights of shelter was 2,255 so I feel like that just shows that we may not see if physically with our eyes but it is still happening and I feel one of the main things that we need to put out there because we are saying we want the awareness – I feel like we need to say that it can happen to us. It can happen to our family members and a lot of people they just think – they hear about it. They see it on social media, and they just think ‘oh, it’s happening around but it’s not happening to us’ but that’s one thing that can happen especially in different locations – going to the grocery store, going to a friend’s house. There are always people around, so you always have to look out,” said Zambrano.
The fundraising and event component for the DI team’s project will garner even more attention as the group has been invited to be a part of this year’s first ever Galentine’s Cocktail Social hosted by local businesswoman Denise Leos. The event slated for this Thursday invites women out for a night of fun and friendship. All proceeds from the event will go to the Guadalupe Valley Family Violence Shelter. Tickets are $25 each. The event will begin at 7 p.m. at the Soel Venue in downtown Seguin.
Michelle De Leon, who serves as the team’s coach, says it’s been amazing to see how enlightened this group of seniors has become and how encouraged they are to share what they have learned. She says the experience has been incredible and thanks all those who are helping to support this group.
“It’s been amazing. The community support that they are getting because just today, we met with (Guadalupe County) Sheriff Arnold Zwicke and he took time to bring in other people that specialize in this and spending his time with them so they could ask questions, so they could gain more knowledge. It just seems that everybody they are calling, they are just so willing to help out. Denise Leos was so gracious in letting them partner up. They were having an event the same night and they are collaborating and working together to raise funds for the women’s shelter. So, it’s amazing seeing everybody coming together,” said Deleon.
The students are set to take their project to regional competition on March 25. Until then, look for the students as they bring awareness of sex trafficking to the public. This includes hanging signage in public bathroom walls, sharing messages on social media, presenting their own findings to peers at Seguin High School and placing coin jars on store counters around town.
Those wishing to hear the students along with another guest speakers at this year’s Galentine’s fundraiser are asked to purchase their tickets today at Eventbrite.com. They are also available at Drunk on Apparel located at The Backyard. The Backyard, formally the Lizzie M. Burges campus, is located at 225 N. Saunders.