LYNN — It’s been quite a year for Lynn English High School senior Carlos Prudencio.
At the time of his interview with The Item, where he was informed he had been named the Essex Media Group’s 2020 Person of the Year for Lynn, Prudencio also learned that he had been accepted to his dream school — American University.
Prudencio, 17, plans to study CLEG next year, a specialized major at the Washington D.C. university that consists of communications, law studies, economics and government.
“Being in D.C., and the degree itself, is very interesting,” said Prudencio. “I always thought about doing something with law and government, (but) never communications and economics. It brought a world I didn’t know to a world I’m interested in studying.”
The multi-layered degree Prudencio has chosen to pursue may not be surprising to people who know him. Prudencio has spent much of his high school career bringing about positive change in the community.
The senior class president at Lynn English helped to implement a human rights curriculum at the school, which officially rolled out this school year after “four years of waiting for that to happen,” Prudencio said.
Last March, at the urging of his mentor, Dulce Gonzalez and a good friend, Damianny Garrido, Prudencio started volunteering at the Lynn Salvation Army, which has served as the driving force for meal distribution in the city during the COVID-19 pandemic.
“Since Day One in March all the way (through) June, we were there every day, packing up food (and) passing out food to families who really needed it,” said Prudencio. “Even through the toughest times we were there and we were being safe about it.
“We really built up a little family there. Even though it was in really difficult times, it was really rewarding for us. We tried to make it fun.”
Along with Garrido, Prudencio has spearheaded the youth-led push for a Black Lives Matter mural in the city. The mural, which would be located near the courthouse and City Hall, has run into some legal challenges along the way with the city and is therefore, still under discussion, he said.
“At first it was Damianny and me,” and then it expanded to other youth and organizations, said Prudencio of the push for a BLM mural.
“We really thought this would be something for the community, to raise that awareness, to let people know we, the people of the city of Lynn, stand with the Black community and the injustices going around. We thought one of the best ways to do that would be through art,” he said.
As a result of its expansion, supporters of the initiative now have their own name, “One Lynn, One Love,” and the group plans to revamp the effort and propose the idea for a BLM mural again after the holidays, Prudencio said.
It was his service efforts with the Salvation Army and his racial justice advocacy that earned Prudencio another notable distinction in October when he was selected as the winner of U.S. Rep. Seth Moulton’s annual Peter J. Gomes service award.
Prudencio, who is involved with several organizations, including Beyond Walls, La Vida Scholars, and Youth Without Borders, was selected for the service award from a group of five finalists, which included two other people whose work directly benefits the Lynn community.
But out of all of the awards and accolades Prudencio has received, he said “this one really hits home.”
“It’s really important to be named the Person of the Year,” said Prudencio. “That’s something special. It means I’ve been putting in good work in this community into Lynn. I have a lot of love for my home, for Lynn.”
