High school students can speak on consumer topics

The San Diego Better Business Bureau (BBB) is inviting high school juniors and seniors to participate in its Student Ambassador program, which is a volunteer speakers’ bureau in which high school students deliver speeches to other students on how to be smarter consumers.

Students who deliver the most speeches will be eligible to receive cash scholarships from Union Bank of California, the presenting sponsor of the Student Ambassador program.

According to Sheryl Bilbrey, San Diego BBB president/CEO, students will be trained in February to deliver a scripted speech on such topics as spending with a credit card, budgeting, using a cell phone wisely and identity theft.

Now in its third year, the program is open to any junior or senior who attends an accredited high school in San Diego or Imperial counties.

“With disposable incomes, many young consumers are easy targets for scam artists,” Bilbrey said. “Our program trains students to deliver valuable consumer protection information to their peer groups on campus. Plus, it’s a great resume builder for all participants.”

During the 2007 spring semester, in a 13-week span, Bilbrey said student ambassadors delivered speeches to more than 1,500 high school students in various classrooms, including English, Spanish, math, history, economics, life management and even biology and chemistry.

Three students received cash scholarships ranging from $500 to $2,500.

For more information about the BBB’s Student Ambassador program, contact Mona Vyas, director of operations, at (858) 637-6199, extension 327, or e-mail [email protected].

The nonprofit San Diego BBB, which opened in 1921, is the sixth largest in the worldwide BBB network, which includes 128 local bureaus across the US and Canada.