THE DREAM STARTS WITH ME
Student Humanitarians of the Year Awardee: Yassna Ahmadi
By Shelly Prevost
As the country grows more contentious and more divided,
with our government shutting down and unable to reach an
agreement, our hopes for a more united future increasingly
depend on the next generation of leaders. One of these
leaders, Yassna Ahmadi, this year’s recipient of the Martin
Luther King Jr. Student Humanitarian of the Year Award,
stands out among them. Yassna is a senior at Pinole Valley
High School, where she is currently serving as the class
president.
One morning while Yassna was sitting in class, her name was
called over the school intercom and she was told to report
to the Principal’s office. As many of us might remember
from our student days, that’s usually disconcerting. Yassna
thought “Oh, what did I do wrong?” It turned out she had
nothing to worry about. Principal Kibby Kleiman wanted
to nominate her for the Martin Luther King Jr. Student
Humanitarian Award. As part of Contra Costa County’s
Annual Commemoration of Dr. King’s life and legacy, the
Board of Supervisors honors a student that exemplifies
the social justice and community commitment values
championed by Dr. King. The Board chose Yassna Ahmadi as
this year’s recipient of the award.
Like most American stories, unless you are a Native
American, it starts with your ancestors immigrating
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to the United States. Yassna’s parents emigrated from
Afghanistan in 1979, fleeing the Soviets invasion. Her dad
was seventeen and her mom was twelve. They met and
married in Fremont, and in 2000 they moved to Hercules.
They are now both US citizens. Yassna’s dad is a professor
at UC Berkeley and her mom works as a human resources
coordinator. Yassna says “my parents taught me to treat all
people with kindness, be respectful and always think about
others”.
Yassna started her outreach at a young age. She remembers
in Kindergarten giving a report on Eid, the Islamic holiday
at the end of Ramadan. She feels her high school is pretty
open and diverse but she does recall a time when she heard
students making snide remarks about some girls wearing
hijabs. Yassna doesn’t wear a hijab and so many students
aren’t aware of her Islamic heritage. When she told them
that she was Muslim too, like those girls, they apologized. “It
makes a difference when it is someone you know”, Yassna
observed.
Another way Yassna distinguished herself was to write
articles for the school newspaper. One of her first stories
was about the importance of putting Harriet Tubman on
the twenty dollar bill. She says she heard about it on the
news and is disappointed that it still has not happened.
Yassna Ahmadi stands in front of the mural created by the
artist and social activist Emmy Lou Packard.