On Saturday, Feb. 17, students from the Alaska Job Corps Youth 2 Youth Partners 4 Peace (Y2Y) group made quite a splash when they braved frigid temperatures to jump into Wasilla Lake for the annual Mat-Su Plunge. Although students woke up that morning to below-zero temperatures in many places across the Mat-Su Valley, they were determined to make the jump.

Alaska Job Corps’ Student Government Association donated $1,000 to the Mat-Su Sertoma Club, the organizer of the event, which assists individuals with hearing health issues. Although the donation was for that cause, the Y2Y students crafted an announcement about bringing peace to young people everywhere by raising awareness of teen dating violence.

Before the students jumped into the large, rectangular hole in the ice, the announcer read the students’ statement about how thousands of Alaskan teens are impacted by teen dating violence every year. As each group of two students jumped into the water, some doing front flips and some cannon-balling, the announcer and the students shouted “Y2Y for peace!” Two other students held a Y2Y banner that said “Alaska Job Corps promotes peace in our community.” The jumpers wore red t-shirts that they decorated, with everything from fabric markers to gold glitter, to represent Y2Y.

“It was great to get the word out about Y2Y and teen dating violence,” said Marcus Redfox, an Electrical student at Alaska Job Corps. “I think it is really important for teens nowadays because so many are affected by that kind of violence.”

The Alaska Job Corps Y2Y group is a student-led and student-run organization that is part of a national Job Corps initiative to reduce bullying and violence both on Job Corps campuses and in their local communities. The Alaska Job Corps Y2Y group organizes events and activities promoting anti-violence and anti-bullying for each month of the year. They also hold regular student discussions about how to address all aspects of bullying and violence on Center and in the Mat-Su Valley.

“We need to keep talking about youth violence across our nation and our Y2Y students are not only leading that dialogue, but they are taking action to raise awareness of this important issue,” said Malyn Smith, Alaska Job Corps Center Director. “Through activities like the Mat-Su Plunge, our Y2Y students are keeping that conversation alive as well as working to find solutions to the problem of violence in Alaska and across the country.”
The next Alaska Job Corps Y2Y activity will be held during National Youth Violence Prevention Week, which begins on March 18.

The Alaska Job Corps Center is a federally funded career training program administered by the U.S. Department of Labor and managed by Chugach Educational Services, Inc. The Center is committed to providing the highest quality programs for young adults by offering instructions in academics, trades and life skills through innovative methods that respond to the unique individual and group needs of today’s youth.

Story by BCL Carin Meyer.