Three Graves Middle School students were named Los Angeles County Supervisor Janice Hahn’s Women of the Year recipients.
Mone’t Carter, Alison Colacchio, and Andrea Prillwitz are the three youngest recipients to have received this prestigious award. They were honored at the Women of the Year Luncheon that took place on Monday, March 11, by the Los Angeles County Commission for Women.
“It was a proud moment. We’re only 13 and there were people in their 40s and 50s getting this award who are more experienced,” Mone’t Carter shared with the Whittier Daily News.
These students immersed as student leaders while working with their seventh grade class on “Project Light the Way”. “Project Light the Way" was an action plan that included installing LED lighting at a South Whittier crosswalk to assure pedestrian safety. This project began after their fellow classmate, Oliver Maldonado, was seriously injured when hit by a car at the crosswalk.
Graves Middle School seventh grade teacher, Patricia Vega-Jeter, worked with students to write letters to Supervisor Janice Hahn regarding the crosswalk. They began social media accounts and passed out flyers to build awareness and gain community support.
Students Mone’t Carter, Andrea Prillwitz and Alison Collachio, attended the L.A. County Supervisors meeting to address Supervisor Janice Hahn about the need for the safer LED crosswalk located at Mayberry Park. After testifying these students were invited to work with the Department of Public Works’ engineers in their “Junior Engineers” program to make changes to the crosswalk. Eight months and nearly $300,000 later, the safer crosswalk is complete.
The new crosswalk is located on Meyer Rd. and Fidel Ave. at Amelia Mayberry County Park and features LED lights, an audio message that plays in both English and Spanish, and gives pedestrians 35 seconds to cross the street.
“I am so impressed by these young women. They saw what happened to their classmate, recognized the problem, and decided to do something about it,” Hahn stated. “It is never too early to recognize your power and your ability to make a difference in your community.”
This luncheon is hosted by the Los Angles County Commission for Women. This is the fourth year of the event and each year the Supervisor names a woman or women of their choice to receive the Woman of the Year award.
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