My faith in the future of our country has been badly shaken over the last several months—but over the course of the past few weeks it has been renewed! All it took was working with four bright and engaging students from Pasadena High School’s Law and Public Service (LPS) Academy to open my eyes.

Our future is in good hands. Four rising seniors, Amelia Monsour, Destiny Bowman, Lucy Elizabeth Johns, and Reyna Gonzalez, applied to intern with us this summer, and we welcomed them all!

And I’m proud to announce that three of the four have joined our ranks and are ready to advance the League’s work. Two of our new members have submitted articles about their experience with our League thus far—please read what Amelia and Reyna have to say in “Meet Our Interns.”

 I want to extend a big “thank you” to Dr. Kristina Turly-Payne, Coordinator, College and Career Pathways, for Pasadena Unified School District, and Brian Biery, Advisory Board, Law and Public Service Academy, Pasadena High School. We have partnered with them for the last few years to offer students an opportunity to gain experience getting out the vote and advocating for policies that can improve the lives of our friends, families, and communities. This year we hit the jackpot, so stand by—you will be hearing more from them!

 Now we must do our part by avoiding the temptation to merely inform ourselves and allow others to bestir themselves on our behalf. We are living in a time when our very democracy is in decline. We call ourselves defenders of democracy. Well, let’s set a good example for our interns and everyone else: Let’s put our money where our mouth is, get into good trouble, and TAKE ACTION!

Yours in solidarity,

—Martha Y. Zavala