Gala for a Cure 2020
Cancer, this notorious and dreadful disease, claims more than half a million lives every year in the United States. Scientists race to find cures and communities make collective efforts to support cancer research. Cancer League of Colorado, an all-volunteer nonprofit organization, has taken the lead in funding cancer research, raising and rewarding $20 million for cancer research and patient care.
Youth Creates Gala for a Cure 2020 is a series of virtual fun and educational presentations, seminars, classes, and contests from reputable doctors, educators, and community leaders. This fundraising event serves about 300 children and adults, and collects and donates $8,000 to Cancer League of Colorado to support cancer research. Youth Creates is grateful for all mentors, supporters, and volunteers who made this possible. Youth Creates hopes these activities add value and variety to your summer, and appreciates and applauds your care and support for the fight against cancer.
The Youth Creates Team presents $8,000 to Gary Reece, President of Cancer League of Colorado.
Reagan Kerns
To register for Reagan’s jeopardy game session, please register
.
Time: August 2, 2020, 11:00 am – 12:00 pm Mountain Time
Jeopardy for Anoraks is a Jeopardy game designed for bookworms, tv watchers, and anyone who enjoys any form of pop culture. It’s in the style of a classic Jeopardy Game. We can accommodate 10 teams, so grab your friends, brush up on your Sindarin, and prepare yourselves for Jeopardy for Anoraks!
Reagan is an upcoming sophomore at Cherry Creek High School. Her hobbies include reading, baking, and D&D. She also does taekwondo and art. She can often be found in the library or at a park. She enjoys history and science. Reagan has worked with children in a variety of teaching positions, including hosting a children’s book club, teaching a children’s math class, and volunteering as TA at Denver Chinese School. Reagan is excited to join Youth Creates as an opportunity to do some good in the world.
To register for the creative writing workshops, please register
First Session Time: August 2, 2020, 1:00pm – 2:00pm Mountain Time
Second Session Time: August 8, 2020, 1:00pm – 2:00pm Mountain Time
These two sessions of fun and scholastic creative writing workshops are designed for elementary and middle school students. The second session is a continuation of the first one. Come with a spirit to enjoy and to enlighten!
Aria Zhou
Emily Zhang
Marilyn Kerns
Angie Wang
Aria is rising junior at Cherry Creek High School. She has also been a synchronized swimmer for 9 years and has recently become a coach, helping young swimmers with their musicality, flexibility, and much more. Along with this, Aria is passionate about video production and photography as she has her own YouTube channel and frequently participates in Cherry Creek’s media productions.
Emily Zhang is going into Cherry Creek High School in the fall of 2020. During her spare time, she loves to sketch, read a love story, take her dog outside, or talking a friend. Emily’s been playing the piano since the age of six. She also started playing tennis when she was nine, which she absolutely enjoys after a busy school day. In school, she plays the flute in band, participates in NJHS, and often joins theater crew in school plays and musicals. For many years, Emily has been a volunteer at Denver Rescue Mission, accompanied by her family and friends. By engaging in Youth Creates, she’s looking forward to knowing more people and being an active supporter.
Marilyn Kerns is going to the seventh grade at West Middle School. In her free time, she makes digital art, especially dragons from Wings of Fire. She also does lots of coding and animating. She’s a blackbelt at Tiger Rock Taekwondo. Marilyn has been learning Chinese dance since she was five, and has won several top KAR awards with her team members.
Angie has been a Spelling Bee winner growing up. Recently, she won the Lion’s Club Peace Poster Art Project of 2020 in the seventh grade. In addition, Angie was awarded the silver medal for Taekwondo poomse (Korean for ‘forms’), and her current Taekwondo belt ranking is black-yellow. Her other activities include second chair saxophonist in Polson MS band, participant of the seventh grade Polson Middle School jazz band, and former dancer of ballet, tap, jazz, and hip hop.
Rachel Ding
President of StepIntoMelody
To register for Rachel’s CrossFit session, please register.
Time: August 2, 2020, 3:00 pm – 4:00 pm Mountain Time
Full body workout sample features warm-up, arms, cardio, abs, lower body, and cool down. Enjoy, Empower!
Rachel is a dance instructor, choreographer, and President and Artistic Director of StepIntoMelody Dance Studio. She is originally from Beijing, China, and has been dancing since she was 5 years old. She received her main training in traditional Chinese dances and other different styles including Indian dances, Japanese dances, etc. from People’s Liberation Army Academy of Art. She holds both a Bachelor’s and Master’s degree in Computer Science and has been working in the Software industry for over 20 years. After moving to Denver and being involved in some community events she re-discovered her passion for dancing and enthusiasm for teaching. She founded StepIntoMelody Dance Studio, affiliated with Denver Chinese School in 2013. She has devoted her entire life outside of her work and family to the studio ever since. StepIntoMelody has become one of the most popular dance studios in the Denver Metro area and won many top awards in national and international dance competitions.
To register for the special session with government officials and community leaders, please register.
Time: August 6, 2020, 2:30pm – 4:00pm Mountain Time
Jason Crow
Congressman
About Jason Crow
A former Army Ranger and lawyer, Congressman Jason Crow represents Colorado’s Sixth Congressional District, encompassing Aurora and parts of Adams and Douglas Counties. Jason worked his way through college before enlisting in the Army and serving our country in Iraq and Afghanistan. Upon returning home, Jason struggled to get his veterans benefits so he went to work helping veterans across Colorado. As an attorney, Jason was named Denver’s Pro-bono Lawyer of the Year for work helping service members transition from military to civilian life. A proven reformer, Jason is working to strengthen our democracy and fight the influence of money in politics through ethics and campaign finance reform. The House passed his first bill, the End Dark Money Act, which would close a loophole that allows mega-donors to hide their political contributions, in HR 1: For the People Act. Beyond increasing government transparency, Jason is focused on preventing gun violence, protecting DREAMers and passing comprehensive immigration reform, and combating the effects of climate change.
Chiling Tong
President and CEO of National ACE
Chiling Tong
Chief Executive Officer and President
National ACE
Chiling Tong has intensive domestic and international experience in economic and business development, with a focus on researching and enhancing the growth of small and minority business enterprises competing in the global market. Tong’s career spans the private, non-profit and public sectors. Appointed 2017, Chiling has served as the President and Chief Executive Office of The Asian & Pacific Islander American Chamber of Commerce & Entrepreneurship (National ACE).
Chiling Tong was the Chief of Staff and Associate Director at the Minority Business Development Agency. She helped minority enterprises and small disadvantaged businesses obtain contracts and loans by identifying opportunities. Tong previously served as a Deputy Assistant Secretary in the Department of Commerce. Tong was responsible for overseeing the treatment of American campiness by Asia and Pacific countries.
Chiling is currently a member of the President’s Advisory Commission on Asian Americans and Pacific Islanders. In 2017, Tong received “advocate of the year award” form the US Department of Commerce and recognized at the White House. In 2015, Tong was on the Board of Directors of the Congressional Awards Board for young leaders. Tong was the Founding President of International Leadership Foundation (ILF). Over 18 years, Tong has built a strong nationwide network of 15 chapters consisting of entrepreneurs and community leaders, to support ILF’s mission.
Joe Jefferson
Englewood Presiding Judge
About Joe Jefferson:
Joe Jefferson is a Colorado native who grew up in the City of Englewood. He earned his Bachelor of Science degree from Cornell University in 2002 and his Juris Doctorate from the University of Denver in 2008. Judge Jefferson was admitted to the Colorado bar in 2009 and the U.S. District Court, District of Colorado in 2011. He was the Principal Attorney of the Jefferson Legal Group, P.C. in Englewood from 2009 to 2018 and his family owns the Twin Dragon Restaurant, which has proudly served the Englewood community for over 40 years.
Judge Jefferson served on Englewood City Council from 2007 to 2018, representing Council District 1 and served as mayor from 2015 to 2018. Mayor Jefferson was the first know Chinese American mayor in Colorado history. He was elected as Englewood’s Presiding Municipal Judge in November of 2017 as the only truly publicly elected judge in Colorado. Judge Jefferson transitioned from mayor to presiding judge in January of 2018.
Representative Colin Larson
About Colin Larson:
Rep. Larson and his wife Annie live in Ken Caryl Ranch with their 2-year-old daughter Cora and remain actively engaged in community organizations including The Heartland Hero Essay Competition, The Captain Jason Dahl Scholarship Fund, and The Stepping Stone Support Center
Dr. Ming Song
To register for Dr. Song’s AMC demo class, please register.
This two-hour competitive math class is for middle or high school students interested in the AMC competitions from the beloved math teacher, Dr. Song.
Time: August 7, 2020, 6:00pm – 8:00pm Mountain Time
About Dr. Song:
Education:
1988, Received Ph.D. from Nanjing University f Scientist and Technology in 1988
Research:
1988 to 1993, Ordnance Engineering, Professor, Nanjing University of Scientist and Technology, China
1993 to 1996, Environmental Engineering, Guest Professor, Fraunhofer Institute for Environmental, Safety, and Energy Technology, Germany
1996 to 1998, Chemical Engineering, Research Fellow, University of Alberta, Canada
1998 to present, Mineral Engineering, Chief Scientist, Metso, USA
Honors:
1991, Awarded the Most Distinguished Chinese Doctor by The State Council of P.R. China and The State Education Commission of P.R. China
1991, recorded in 华夏沃土育英才, published by The State Education Commission of P.R. China
Jan. 25, 1991, Invited by Jiang Zeming, the Chinese President, and Li Peng, the Prime Minister of P.R. China on Jan. 25, 1991 to the Great Hall of the People
1991, First Youth Science & Technology Prize by The China Ordnance Society
1993, First Rank Prize for Young Scientists by the State Education Commission of P.R. China. This prize was then awarded to 50 outstanding young scientists every two years, among which 8 are in the first rank, 8 are in the second and the remains are in the third.
1993 to 1995, Alexander von Humboldt Research Fellowship, Germany
May 31, 1994, Invited by Richard von Weizsaecker, the German President to the President House
1999, Extraordinary Scientist, Department of US Citizenship and Immigration Services, USA
Dr. Yanling Su
To register for Dr. Su’s Covid-19 presentation, please register .
Time: August 8, 2020, 1:00pm – 2:00pm Mountain Time
We are in the middle of the COVID 19 pandemic. Although Colorado as a state in general has a better outcome in terms of COVID mortality, Colorado residents are still at a risk to contract the virus. It is certain that many people have questions regarding the treatment, prognosis, even vaccines. There is still so much we don’t know about this virus. We know much more now than we did a few months ago. Dr. Su has been on the front line admitting and treating COVId patients since March. She will give a brief talk regarding current treatment and prevention to COVID 19. Audiences are welcomed to ask questions after the talk.
Dr. Yanling Su graduated from China Medical University. She has a master’s degree in Public Health from Colombia University Mailman School of Public Health. She finished her Internal medicine residency training at Brookdale Medical Center in New York City and obtained her medical license in practicing internal medicine at Colorado in 2019. Currently, she works at a local community hospital at the Denver area as a hospitalist, taking care of hospitalized patients.
Makeup Artist Huaping Fan
To register for Huaping’s makeup class, please register .
Time: August 8, 2020, 3:00pm – 4:00pm Mountain Time
Huaping will teach you how to put on your makeup step by step and help you reveal your youthful natural beauty.
Huaping received her training and had two years’ experience of Portrait Photography Makeup in Shanghai, China. She holds a master’s degree in Accounting and works as an Accountant, however, she never gives up her passion for studying and developing makeup skills. She has served as the Principal Makeup Artist and a dancer of StepIntoMelody Dance Studio for 6 years. StepIntoMelody is one of the most popular dance studios in the Denver Metro area and won many top awards in national and international dance Competitions. Huaping designed and practiced the makeup for their performance in winning the Taoli World Dance Competition in 2018, as well as all makeup in every single performance in Chinese New Year Celebration, commercial and commonweal activities since 2014.
SAT Specialist Neal Bliss
To register for Neil’s SAT demo class, please register .
Time: August 8, 2020, 4:40pm – 5:40pm Mountain Time
Neal will deep analyze with you the article “Let There Be Dark“.
Rated by families as the most effective teacher, Neal is a College Board certified SAT grader and created the most effective techniques in improving SAT Reading/Writing/Essay score. With over 10 years of English teaching, 8 years of SAT test prep, and 5 years of AP History teaching and test prep, Neal has taught over thousands of students both online and in person.
Dr. Ling Ma
Please register for Dr. Ma’s presentation
Time: August 15, 2020, 1:00pm – 2:00pm Mountain Time
Dr. Ma is going to share her views on cancer prevention, including diet, exercise, genetics, and lifestyles.
About Dr. Ma:
Stephen Zhang
Jayden Wang
To register for the math competition, please register.
The competition is designed for middle school students.
Time: August 16, 2020, 11:00am – 12:00pm Mountain Time
Stephen Zhang is a rising junior at Cherry Creek High School. Both are AIME qualifiers.
Jayden is an incoming freshman at Cherry Creek High School. He is currently teaching the math summer camp for the Denver Chinese School. Jayden loves math and is excited to contribute to Gala for a Cure by helping organize the math competition event.
Business Sponsors
Event Chairs
Stephen Zhang
Event Chair
Suzanne Alliano-Rossick
Honorary Chair
Andrew Lu
Co-Chair
LiAn Song
Co-Chair
Reagan Kerns
Co-Chair
Aria Zhou
Co-Chair
By signing up for these sessions, you agree to the waiver and other Youth Creates policies.