Natalie Rose Todd, a Canton Central senior, was honored with the 2023 Reality Check Youth Ambassador of the Year Award (YAYA).

She was honored when local tobacco control representatives met with Senator Mark Walczyk’s Legislative Director James Corl III, Assemblyman Ken Blankenbush, and Assemblyman Scott Gray to discuss NYS’s Tobacco Control Program successes and continued unmet needs.

Todd was the recipient of the Central Region YAYA.

Reality Check is a statewide youth-led movement aimed at creating the first tobacco-free generation.

Travis Jordan Reality Check, coordinator for St. Lawrence, Lewis and Jefferson Counties, said Todd deserves all the recognition she is getting.

He said this award honors the outstanding work of young leaders in countering the tobacco industry’s deceptive and manipulative marketing tactics in communities across New York State.

“Natalie was able to rebuild from the ground up, and reinvent our RC program at Canton Central,” Jordan said.

He said Todd is a proven voice for tobacco control in  the community

Reality Check youth work to foster environments supportive of tobacco-free norms through public education efforts, mobilizing their peers and educational outreach to decision makers, a release from

The organization’s members produce change in their communities through grassroots mobilization and education. Visit www.RealityCheckofNY.org  for more information.