Chamber of Commerce Class Gives Teens a New Forum to Share Thoughts

It was a successful debut for Ignite Novato Youth, a speaking forum for teens set up by members of the Novato Chamber of Commerce's Leadership Novato class.

Twelve kids between 13 and 18 earned community service time as they spoke on a wide range of topics Thursday night at the . The idea behind Ignite Novato Youth is to create opportunities for kids to speak publicly about subjects they're passion about. Presenters were asked to provide rapid-fire,  five-minute presentations on just about any topic that "truly ignites, engages, enrages and just plain makes someone want to get out of bed every day."

The speakers were:

* Becca Plantoni on the media's influence on self-esteem

* Ross Harrington on mountain biking

* Antonio Conrado on things for teens to do in Novato

* Bea Meluch on the Penguin Empire robotics team at San Marin High

* David Phan, Ross Cashman, Kristopher Shepardson, Brad Bolton, Antonio Conrado and Jose Salas on the U.S. Air Force Junior ROTC program based at Novato High

* Noah Nickel on the history and rules of lacrosse

* Shani Boyd on the history of vampire books

Those interested in Ignite Youth Novato — which is open to the idea of another forum soon — can e-mail ignitenovatoyouth@gmail.com or search on Facebook under Ignite Novato Youth and on Twitter @ignitenovato.