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When Balkarn Singh Shahi looks back on his high school experience, one activity stands out – the ��ñ����’s Public Achievement program. As a student at Centaurus High School participating in the program, Shahi and peers responded to national public shootings by spearheading a public campaign to prevent gun violence with support from the faith-based community, the City of Lafayette, the Boulder County Sheriff’s Office, and other influential organizations.

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“Looking back, what shocked me was we approached high-power local institutions and they took us seriously,” Shahi said. “We found out that we could actually make a difference and create change even as high school students.” ��

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Now a sophomore at CU-Boulder, Shahi could not resist the opportunity to give back to the��, which pairs CU-Boulder students as coaches with groups of underrepresented K-12 students seeking solutions to their identified salient social issues. Shahi has been a Public Achievement coach, and this year he served as a teaching assistant for the corresponding civic engagement course and new class of coaches.

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“This program tells you ‘yes, you can make change,’ and I wanted to ensure other students had a similar experience,” he said.

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