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Stephanie Lomeli-Alvarado
Copper Basin News
Seventeen year old Stephanie Lomeli-Alvarado of Kearny attended the 105th Arizona Town Hall last month and had the distinction of being the youngest person to participate in the session.
The 105th Arizona Town Hall, held at the Grand Canyon, was convened to examine Arizona’s economy. In Arizona Town Hall’s 52 year history, this in the 11th time citizens from across the state have come together to reflect on the current state of Arizona’s economy and how best to shape its future.
Most participants were college age students and representatives of major businesses. Stephanie decided she wanted to attend after she took part in a Pinal County Town Hall. Because of her interest as a high school student , which is not very common, all fees were waived for the four day session.
The Town Hall began with panel discussions. There were four panels and each panel addressed the same discussion outline. Once the discussions were complete, consensus statements were taken from each panel to the Report Chairs and with assistance from the Panel Recorders a draft report was created.
A Plenary Session with all panels was then held to review the draft and prepare for a final report. All participants worked to approve, amend or reject each section of the report of recommendations.
The final draft presented four top priorities that could be addressed to improve the economy and included education, infrastructure, tourism and entrepreneurship and local business.
For the most part Stephanie agreed with the final draft consensus, but she would also like to see Arizona civic health be addressed. “We need to motivate our communities involving civic action,” she said. She added that she learned a lot and made many new friends even though she was the youngest kid on the block.
Also during the event several keynote speakers addressed the assembly.
Stephanie is a senior at Ray High School and is a honor student, plays flute with the Bearcat Band and has participated in Cheerleading. Community service has included volunteering at her church as an Altar server, helping with community clean-up activities and the annual Easter Egg Hunt. She also ran for and earned both the Junior Pioneer Days Queen and Pioneer Days Queen crowns.
Stephanie is the daughter of Chris and Ruth Alvarado and she is most grateful to her parents for all their support and encouragement.
Her future plans include attending either the University of Arizona or Grand Canyon University to prepare for her career goal as a medical examiner.
Arizona Town Hall is a private nonprofit corporation founded in 1962 for the purpose of identifying and discussing critical policy issues facing Arizona and creating solutions. Much of the success of the Arizona Town Halls lies in the fact that the process incorporates the knowledge, thoughts and ideas of all the participants. The Town Hall process has been adapted and utilized by many other groups who strive to create solutions by drawing upon diverse views and building informed coalitions.
Arizona Town Hall welcomes questions, comments and perspectives and is located at One E. Camelback Road, Suite 530, Phoenix, AZ 85012. Phone number is 602.252.9600 and e-mail is townhall@aztownhall.org.
Vicki started her career in the journalism field while attending Ray High School in Kearny with an excellent teacher who took her by the hand and guided her. She worked on the school newspaper and as a senior was a co-editor. Her dream was to go on to college to study journalism and eventually to travel the world reporting the news. This dream was interrupted by life circumstances. She stayed in Kearny and went to work for the Copper Basin News in 1964 as a typesetter. Her editor was Ira Q. Toler and he also was a good teacher. After marrying and having children, her desires to again work in the newspaper field surfaced. She responded to an ad for a position in advertising for the Copper Basin News which included selling, lay-out and design. She was hired on the spot. The business has greatly changed with technology and the introduction of desktop publishing. She was fortunate enough to be a part of it. She has now worked for Copper Area News Publishers on and off for over 30 years, starting when John Seater was the publisher. She has held many positions over the years, but is most proud to be named a reporter. She loves to write and is so grateful for being given that chance.
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