Writer, Toothpaste (2004 South Texas Contest Winner)

"Before when people would talk about sex, it was like oh my gosh, that’s not possible to talk about sex… Now when I hear I want to try and motivate them to think better and be ready and prepared—not only physically but mentally."

- Kristal Villarreal

Kristal wrote the story for Toothpaste as part of a class assignment with classmates Amanda Ramirez, Laura Coria and Gladys Sanchez. The four girls from Mission, TX got way more than they expected in return when their script won the 2004 Writing Contest and opened up a community-wide dialogue about progressive sex education. When the Abstinence-Only Education Committee tried to stop Toothpaste from being distributed in TX schools, Kristal and her co-writers successfully rallied educators, family and friends to support their film and their message. p>Since making the film, Kristal and her co-writers worked with Scenarios and Advocates for Youth to spearhead the Rio Grande Valley Youth LULAC (League of United Latin American Citizens) Chapter, giving youth in their community a powerful voice in LULAC’s agenda. For this effort, the girls earned the 2006 Generation Next Award from Choice USA.

In addition to their training with Scenarios USA, Kristal and her co-writers completed a weekend long training in Washington, DC and joined Advocates for Youth’s "My Voice Counts" Campaign Network. During that weekend, the girls took the chance to lobby Texas federal representatives for comprehensive sex education in schools.

Kristal is originally from Mexico and in the 6th grade moved to Mission, TX, a town with a population of 46,000 that sits just a few miles north of the U.S.-Mexico border. She was a senior at Mission High School when she, Amanda, Laura and Gladys wrote Toothpaste. Now 21 years old, Kristal is a senior at UT Austin studying Radio and Television. She and Laura have kept in close contact with Michael Waxman, who produced Toothpaste.

Past Speaking Engagements

• MANA de Hidalgo Conference in Texas in 2006
• Delivered keynote speech at the Texas State School Health Association on January 28th, 2006

Contact

• Email: info@scenariosusa.org
• Phone: (866) 414 1044

Find out more about Toothpaste or view it now (16 minutes):

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