This past summer, you could’ve found Drew Verdi, 18, at the San Ramon In-N-Out Burger. Like most teenagers, he was working to earn extra spending money, and he was trying to get some work experience under his belt.
But to Verdi, there’s more to life than getting money to buy new clothes or Playstation video games. The San Ramon Valley High senior believes in the importance of helping others who are less fortunate, regardless of how busy his own schedule is.
During the school year, Verdi wrestles six days a week and has been actively involved in Youth and Government. But still, he finds time to help others. On the weekends, Verdi works at a shop in Walnut Creek where the proceeds go to Hope Hospice. He helps out by cleaning up the store or aiding customers. On Thursdays, he eats lunch and plays with students in San Ramon Valley High’s delayed learning program.
So when Verdi learned from an e-mail his school sent out that the WB20 television station was accepting applicants for its student council, he seized the opportunity.
“I heard about it from the San Ramon Valley daily bulletin, and I knew that it was something that I would really wanted to do,” said Verdi.
The WB20 student council is a committee of high schoolers who make public service announcements for the station on issues dealing with teens, including drugs, alcohol abuse and violence.
The selection process wasn’t an easy one. Teens from around the Bay Area submitted applications for one of the eight coveted spots. Applicants were required to write essays on what they believed to be the most important issue facing teens today. They also had an interview and a screen test.
For his essay, Verdi focused on diversity. At first, though, he was worried that he would be disqualified from the selection process due to a technicality.
“The essay was only supposed to be 200 words or less, but after I finished my essay, it was nearly two pages,” he said.
But through his essay, Verdi was able to reveal his personality and offer insights on his theme.
“Diversity is not necessarily a racial or cultural matter, but the recognition of people as individuals, and how they want to be seen, not just how we want to see them,” he noted.
He also offered the selection committee his own opinion on the biggest issue society faces in general: The fact that hot dogs come in packages of 10, while hot dog buns only come in packages of eight.
Last month, Verdi, along with seven other Bay Area high school students, was selected to be on the WB20’s student council. Other teens come from Pleasanton, San Leandro, Oakland, Sunnyvale, Hercules and San Jose.
After learning of his acceptance, Verdi was ecstatic.
“I think it’s a really great program; it’s an additional thing that addresses issues that are important,” said Verdi.
Part of their job is to help out at various events. Verdi and the other council members recently went to the KMEL Summer Jams Concert in their “fan van” where they handed out fliers on how to help out the community.
More importantly, they act as spokespeople for the station in a series of public service announcements. The commercials, which are usually 10- or 30-second spots, primarily air on the station in the mornings.
“They can be skits or informational. Basically, they can be anything we can think of,” said Verdi. “Funny, serious, it all depends on what’s going on.”
Just recently, Verdi shot a public service announcement on the importance of being yourself.
“You can be punk rock, you can be an athlete, you can be this or that, but you have to be true to yourself,” he said. “People are growing up too fast and trying too hard to fit in, and that’s not good.”
Participating on the council has given Verdi a new perspective.
“I recently went out to the BART station to get people to fill out a survey on diversity,” he said. “We asked them questions on what they thought teens could improve and what they thought were problems with teens today. A lot of the people said that there is a huge gang problem, and that’s something that I don’t see very much of.”
For Verdi, who plans on applying to Cal Poly San Luis Obispo, this may just be the beginning.
“After being a part of the council, I’ve definitely taken up an interest in broadcasting,” he said. “Everyone I’ve met at the station is amazing and they’re all really nice. If that’s where this leads me, I would love to pursue it.”
While the friendships he’s developed with his fellow council members and the knowledge he’s acquired in broadcasting are nice, they are not the most gratifying parts of the experience.
“We’re doing a public service announcement later this year on suicide. People who are going through these issues can e-mail me with any problems, and I will address them,” said Verdi. “I think that if it helps someone, even if it’s just one person, it’s all worth it in the end.”
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