There is a new “Rising Star” in Pacific Beach – 17-year-old Carter Choung.
During Pacific Beach Town Council’s Jan. 26 installation dinner, the council recognized the Mission Bay High School senior with its Rising Star Award.
Choung has spent almost a year volunteering with the council, editing its social media content and engaging with the community at council events.
In addition to taking courses as part of Mission Bay High’s academically-challenging International Baccalaureate program, Choung competes on his school’s soccer team and is co-president of the school’s Outreach Club. The group helps create events to promote student volunteering in the community.
Amid this demanding schedule and applying to colleges, Choung still found time to volunteer with the PB Town Council. It was as video editor for its social media content, as well as the extra hours he put in doing other volunteering with the council, that made him the Rising Star Award recipient.
The award is presented annually during the PB Town Council’s installation dinner. It recognizes a young individual who has demonstrated an outstanding impact on the community and shows promise to do a lot of good for San Diego or the world.
“It recognizes a young person who has already done a lot of work for PB, and who we think has a really bright future ahead, and hopefully helps them on their way,” said council President Charlie Nieto.
This year’s decision to honor Choung was unanimous and not hard, Nieto said.
“He’s been an outstanding partner,” Nieto said. “Carter is the dream student that we had in mind when we first gave our presentation at Mission Bay High School. He is the prime example of a Mission Bay High School student who wants to work with the PB Town Council and really make a change in Pacific Beach.
“He’s the prime example of a young person that we see making real change in Pacific Beach,” Nieto added. “That’s why it was a unanimous decision by the board to nominate him for that award.”
Choung’s involvement is partly the result of efforts by the council to increase engagement with younger community . Interweaving fresh perspectives is something Nieto said strengthens the council and bolsters its energy.
“Having younger people involved really opens up a dialogue that we didn’t have before,” Nieto said. “I think it brings a higher energy. I think having a wide range of people and ages from teenagers all the way up to people of a more experienced age, I think having that really adds to the town council.”
Jaden Ballardo, the council’s secretary and communications director, said the lack of perspective from younger community being reflected in the town council’s makeup is due both to a lack of visibility and a misconception that their input would be dismissed.
“Not a lot of people know exactly what we do or how they can get involved,” Ballardo said. “When it comes to recruiting younger people in general, it’s really important to show them that it’s not a random organization, we want their creativity and ideas. We want them to know that you can help mold and shape even though it’s been in existence for 75 years.”
With this in mind, last spring PB Town Council spoke to Mission Bay High’s junior class of International Baccalaureate students. Council explained what the organization does and how students could get involved.
Choung was in attendance and took the opportunity to get involved with Pacific Beach’s 2023 graffiti cleanup, bringing Outreach Club with him. Nieto said Choung’s involvement with the council “snowballed” from this volunteer event.
Shortly thereafter, Choung met with Ballardo, who pitched the idea of having him volunteer as video editor for the council’s social media content. Ballardo said his involvement has been “crucial” to the council’s outreach, and has led to an uptick in interaction and excitement for various events the council hosts annually.
Volunteer work with the council is not Choung’s first venture into community service. Choung volunteered as a Spanish tutor at the Longfellow Spanish Immersion Magnet School and helped the Barnes Tennis Youth Council create fundraisers for students who could not afford tennis rackets or lessons. As a member of the Outreach Club, he raised money to purchase holiday gifts for impoverished children in Tijuana.
Choung said his drive to help others and give back to his community is something that was instilled in him by his parents, Sara and Gerald Choung, particularly his mother.
“When I was growing up with my younger brother, they made sure that we were thinking of the bigger picture and about those who were less fortunate, so we could go out and help them,” Choung said. “It became a routine, week in and week out. My Mom especially, she created snack packs that we could out to the homeless as we were driving by. Seeing that at a young age, I really wanted to carry that on in my teenage years before going off to college.”
As for other council involvement, Choung worked its information booth at various events put on by the council. He also helped decorate its Holiday Parade float.
“Not only is he at these events meeting people and representing the town council, but he definitely has a crucial part in creating our content,” Ballardo said. “A lot of the content he’s created has gotten a lot of interaction and definitely made people more excited to come to these events next year.”
Most recently, council returned to Mission Bay High to see if this year’s juniors would want to volunteer with the council. During the presentation Choung spoke about his experiences.
“Young people should know that anyone can make a difference,” Nieto said. “I got involved in the PBTC straight out of high school, 18 years old and during (the pandemic). Jaden, same thing, she ed when she was 20. Carter ed when he was in high school. It really shows that there’s not an age barrier that young people do face in other areas. Locally those opportunities are there.”
“I hope other students follow my lead as well as Charlie and Jaden’s, and get integrated with the community,” Choung said.
After graduation in June, Choung plans to attend a four-year college to study business or economics and volunteer in his spare time.
