After fall's event, YAP is back and hit their winter event out of the park.

For those unaware, the Youth Ambassador Program (YAP for short) is a countywide program that encourages student input in mental health initiatives. The winter event was held January 24 at CCBC.

The event's main focus, as always, was mental illness in teenagers as well as the effect it can have on growing up into adults. After a brief breakfast supplied by Panera Bread, the event leaders gave a quick thanks to special people in attendance and those who were helping with the event which included Beaver County Judge DeCostro and District Attorney Nathan Bible.

Then, many students involved in the program spoke about attending the PA Youth Advocacy Day in Harrisburg where they fought for a third day off of school, to be used for at-home learning, during the week.

"Remember during COVID when we would have one day during the week when we wouldn't need to go to school? We're trying to get that back," said YAP student leader John Paul Jones II during the announcement.

The day off is being sought as a way to elevate teens’ mental health and de-escalate school-related stress.

The event’s first speaker, Pittsburgh Comedian Gab Bonesso, took the stage with her high-energy, comedic take on a life full of mental illness diagnoses. Her speech shared her issues with trauma, depression, and stress involved with her career. Her candid approach led to a large discussion during her Q and A session during which many students who shared her struggle spoke up about how they related to her story.

Next was lunch which was a pasta bar catered by Two Cooks which then led to a mini-dance party featuring classics such as "The Cha-Cha Slide" and "Starships".

After this fun distraction, listened to a speech by an Eastern Pennsylvanian senior, Sophie Fontecchio, who spoke of her classmate Rylan who suffered from mental health and sadly passed a few years prior from suicide. Her mission is to use bake sales as a way of raising money and awareness for multiple mental health programs.

"If you have an idea, go for it!" Fontecchio told me after I had asked her for any advice she had for fellow seniors who want to make a change but are afraid they have no way of doing so.

Ultimately, this winter event was one of YAP's best to date and also boasted its largest attendance to date.

If you also want to participate, contact your school counselor about the next YAP event, and if you, or a loved one, are suffering from depression and are having thoughts of suicide, contact the 988 crisis hotline. You are loved.