Ednovate Blog - Student Spotlight: Tyra Shines as a Coro California Youth Fellow
For USC Hybrid High junior Tyra, leadership happens in many places.
You can see it on the tennis court, where she serves as president of her school’s tennis club. You can see it on the track and cross country teams, where discipline and teamwork are part of every practice. And this summer, Tyra brought those same qualities to a new setting: helping explore how the City of Los Angeles can better engage young people in civic life.
Tyra was selected to participate in Coro California’s highly selective Youth Fellows Program, a six-week summer leadership experience that gives Southern California high school students the opportunity to learn firsthand how organizations, communities, and civic institutions work.
For Tyra, who is interested in a future career in law or politics, the experience was a chance to explore those interests while building real-world skills.
“I’ve always been interested in law and politics because I want to understand how decisions are made and how they affect people,” Tyra said. “The Coro program gave me the chance to see some of that work up close and showed me that young people can have a voice in those conversations too.”
Learning Leadership by Doing
Through Coro California’s Youth Fellows Program, students participate in leadership workshops, professional internships, and collaborative projects focused on civic life in Los Angeles. Fellows build skills in communication, teamwork, problem-solving, and critical thinking while learning what leadership looks like in practice.
As part of the program, Tyra interned with the City of Los Angeles Youth Development Department. Working alongside two other Youth Fellows, she supported the Department’s application review process for its Youth Leadership Council, examining application trends and exploring ways to increase participation among young people from underrepresented districts.
“One of the things I learned is that getting young people involved takes more than just creating an opportunity,” Tyra said. “You also have to think about who is hearing about it, who feels welcome participating, and what might be keeping some students from getting involved.”
The experience gave Tyra a firsthand look at how public agencies work to engage communities and ensure more people have a voice in decisions that affect them.
Exploring What Comes Next
For Tyra, the fellowship also helped connect her current interests with possible future careers.
“This experience made me even more interested in pursuing law or politics,” she said. “I liked being able to look at a real issue, work with other people to understand it, and think about possible solutions.”
At Ednovate, preparing students for the future means helping them build strong academic foundations while also creating opportunities to discover their interests, develop their strengths, and imagine what is possible after high school.
Tyra is already doing just that.
Between athletics, student leadership, and now civic and professional experience, she is learning that leadership can take many forms.
“I learned that leadership doesn’t mean you have to know everything or always be the person speaking the loudest,” Tyra said. “It means listening, asking good questions, working with other people, and being willing to step up when you can make a difference.”
We’re proud of Tyra for representing USC Hybrid High, challenging herself through this selective opportunity, and investing her summer in becoming an even stronger student and civic leader.
