Alyssa Escamilla, a senior at San Marino High School who serves as the ASB student representative to the school board, wants to major in public policy or political science when she enters college in the fall.
But she isn’t waiting to have an impact on those she serves.
Escamilla—a member of CASC, the California Association of Student Councils—spoke in Sacramento last month as part of the Student Advisory Board on Legislation, where she proposed a bill that would make it mandatory for the state’s schools “to post their sexual assault protocol in language that could be easily followed and understood by high school students.”
“We also asked them to require schools to specifically list the number of suspensions and expulsions related to sexual assault and harassment,” said Escamilla, who is also the vice president of CASC.
Escamilla was one of ten students in a group that proposed the bill and was chosen to speak on behalf of the group. The proposal was picked up and will eventually end up on the Senate floor for a vote.
“I think it is a really serious topic,” Escamilla told The Tribune. “There is so much right now being discussed about bullying, but sexual harassment and sexual assault are both very prevalent. This subject is nothing to be scared or embarrassed about and if it only helps one person, that is good enough for me.”
Another bill Escamilla championed that gives schools incentives to follow through with complete career and technical education (CTE) courses was passed in May.
The daughter of Leyda and Patrick Escamilla is currently in her second year as San Marino High School’s ASB representative to the San Marino School Board, where she attends the bi-monthly meetings, presents an update on activities at all four school sites, and has an advisory vote on all agenda items.
Alyssa’s brother, Nicholas, is a seventh grader at Huntington Middle School.
She hopes to attend Wellesley, American University or USC withb hopes of eventually becoming an attorney.
