A state representative is using her love for baking to help young girls understand the world of politics.
Politics & Pastries: Teen Girl Empowerment is a part of a series by Alive Aurora.
Rep. Barbara Hernandez, D-Aurora said this event is a great way to teach young women about working in local government.
“What politics is? What it means to be a politician? What are some things that we do and why we focus on,” she said, “and what are some issues that maybe they're concerned that maybe they heard from, from home from school, or overall social media?”
Hernandez said she wants to mentor young girls much like former State Representative Linda Chapa LaVia supported her.
“Who saw that in me early on and told me, you know, you should probably go for leadership for politics,” Hernandez explained. “And I didn't understand what she meant, because I was around 14,15 years old when I met her.”
She said reached out to LaVia her a couple of years later and that’s when she decided to dive into political waters.
Hernandez said when she was younger, she dreamed of becoming a pastry chef. She said although she made a different career choice she still enjoys baking and eating pastries.
“Whenever I do have time, usually in the holiday weekends, so probably in the next couple of days, I usually spend time with my family,” she shared. “And we make bread, we make cookies, cakes, pies, and so on. So that's my hobby now.”
This free event is for 5th grade through high school girls. It takes place at 4 p.m. to 5 p.m. Wednesday Dec. 15 at Alive Aurora, A Teen Center.
- Yvonne Boose is a current corps member for Report for America, an initiative of the GroundTruth Project. It's a national service program that places talented journalists in local newsrooms like WNIJ. You can learn more about Report for America at wnij.org.
