Melanie Orozco, Lilian Barrientos Aceituno, Aliehsa Chua and Zitlali Naranjo had never met before they were chosen to be part of SHINEcast, a youth mental health podcast recorded at the Napa Valley Education Foundation.
What sounds like the start of an 80s teen movie among the 16- and 17-year-olds advocating for mental health turned into a platform to address topics ranging from talking about their feelings amongst friends, speaking about how to deal with a breakup, and shared experiences such as mental health never being spoken about in their households.
Along the way the girls bonded, becoming believers of the advocacy and realizing it was positive to discuss these topics while discovering they had more in common than they imagined.
“Schools talk about mental health, but it’s really surface-level,” Chua said.
This is the third season of SHINEcast and the first time the hosts are all female. Two are Vintage High School students and the other two are from American Canyon High School. The girls have been working collaboratively since October, meeting one to two times a month. Their first episode will focus on mental health during the holidays and will touch on topics such as seasonal depression, cultural pressures and coping skills. They invited a therapist from Mentis, a local Napa nonprofit dedicated to mental health. Together, they come up with the topics, write scripts, brainstorm transitions and develop the tone for their episodes.
Episodes appear on YouTube, Spotify, and Apple Podcasts. The girls plan to dedicate episodes to topics like addiction or boundaries in communication.
“Breakups — that should be a whole episode,” the girls said.
“My sister said, ‘Why do you go to therapy? It doesn’t work,” Naranjo said.
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Melanie Orozco, Lilian Barrientos Aceituno, Aliehsa Chua and Zitlali Naranjo go over the topic for their next episode of SHINEcast. The four had never met before until they applied to be a part of this mental health youth led podcast. (Trey Wagner, Aperture Media & Design)
Orozco said she would not know how to approach help at school but also believes it is needed to speak about mental health because, “You can’t stay in a negative mindset forever — you have to outgrow it.”
In 2022, the Napa Valley Vintners brought together five nonprofits to focus on improving and expanding wellness programs in schools. On the Move, UpValley Family Centers, Mentis, Aldea, and Napa Valley Education Foundation continue to be funded for this SHINE Initiative (Student Health Improvement through Nonprofit Excellence) was formed to help increase access to mental health services for students at their school sites and in the community. In the 2024-25 school year, wellness centers had more than 50,000 visits.
To be chosen as the new hosts of SHINEcast, the girls had to apply and express their interest in participating. The program is free, and Orozco said it feels like a privilege to have the opportunity, especially in Napa where she considers there is a lack of activities for teens.
The hosts are involved in leadership clubs in their schools. Chua and Barrientos hope to work in health care in the future and plan to use what they are learning. Funny enough, none of them have told their friends about their upcoming first episode or the fact they are producing a podcast, yet.
“It’s a privilege to express my voice — and be on camera — for free. It feels like someone out there cares for us,” Orozco said.
Program Manager Daisy Zamora, 23, oversees the podcast and the new Shine Ambassadors initiative. The ambassadors will be hosting a Youth Wellness Conference on April 25, 2026. The theme is First Generation Wellness (chosen by youth themselves).
Beyond ShineCast, Zamora also manages Career Exploration, Summer Mentor, and Next Gen Med, all of which expose students to real-world careers and build networks with local professionals. Her sociology and social work background guides her approach to youth development and mental-health advocacy. Zamora emphasized even though she facilitates, the platform is theirs. She said students do the heavy lifting, literally, like setting up the cameras and filming.
“I’m always impressed by students. They’re the experts in themselves,” she said. “When I was growing up, we wanted to talk about mental health, but we didn’t have the tools. Seeing wellness centers and accessible services now makes me really happy about the direction we’re going,”
Zamora who also went to a NVUSD high school and is not too far from the new podcasters’ ages, said she is happy to be an adult who can mentor the youth and encourages others to do so.
People can visit shinenapavalley.org to learn more about SHINEcast and tune in.
