youth
“The
of today
are the
leaders
of tomorrow.”
– Nelson Mandela
Marcos Rios:
A Georgia youth poised to help increase preparedness
O
Story by: Brandy Mai
ne Georgia youth who is a current leader helping to increase awareness of the program, developing
in his community and poised to continue
an implementation guide, creating a catalog of all the
making a difference is Marcos Rios. A
Teen CERT programs across the nation and creating a
15-year-old rising high school junior, Rios
heat map to identify gaps in youth involvement. “We
is a member of the Federal Emer-
used the heat maps to show us where
gency Management Agency’s Youth
there was a need for more involve-
Preparedness Council and helping
ment, then we created brochures
“He
won’t
stop
until
the nation to increase preparedness
and letters that were sent to youth
and readiness for disasters.
in those areas to encourage them to
the entire nation
“YPC has made me a different
get involved,” he said.
-no, the entire world-
person,” he said. “I never knew
“Marcos was basically our project
knows
about
someone like me could save a life.”
manager and tech guy,” said Ahjeetha
preparedness.”
Rios has always been involved in
Shankar, co-chair of last year’s YPC
his community and school activi-
Teen CERT committee. “He helped
-
Ahjeetha
Shankar
ties, due to his mom working at his
with organizing all the information,
YPC Teen CERT Committee
school and him staying after hours
assigning deadlines and helping us
while she was still working. But it
budget and project management.”
wasn’t until he saw an ad for YPC
In addition to his Teen CERT
that he knew about the program or about preparedness.
involvement, the straight-A, full diploma student at
“I’ve been active in a lot of things, and I knew those
Marietta High School who’s involved in more than a
skills could translate into being part of this program,”
dozen school clubs and committees, Rios conducted an
said Rios.
individual project in the aftermath of Hurricane Harvey
Last year, the first of the two-year appointment to
and collected more than 38,000 rolls of toilet paper to
YPC, Rios was actively involved in the Teen Community
assist survivors of that storm. “YPC meets annually, our
Emergency Response Team Committee of the YPC,
team meets weekly, but we also do individual projects
14 | September 2018