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Sunday, April 2, 2006
Can-do attitudes
Copyright © 2006 Blethen Maine Newspapers Inc. | ||||||||||
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Also on this page: MORE OF THE WINNERS | |||||||||
BAR HARBOR — Kala Clark talks about public policy like some teenagers talk about the technical aspects of their favorite sports, music or class at school. Simply put, it's what she does. The 18-year-old Mount Desert Island High School senior testifies at legal conferences and before the Legislature. She serves on youth advisory boards. The former head of the state's largest bureaucracy knows her by name. Clark is one of 20 young Mainers selected in the second annual 20 Below 20 awards sponsored by MaineToday.com and the Portland Press Herald/Maine Sunday Telegram. The award spotlights youth with outstanding drive, civic involvement, artistic ability or other accomplishments outside the fields of academics and sports. No matter whether their focus is the arts, student life or public policy, all the winners display a go-getter, can-do attitude that cannot be measured by grade-point-average or SAT score. At a time when high school students face extreme pressure to play what more than one winner called "the numbers game" — focusing their efforts on SAT preparation and grade-point-average — students said they understand why others put community involvement on the back burner. But many in this year's crop of 20 Below 20 — MaineToday.com's outstanding teenagers and young adults — have taken the initiative to improve their schools and communities. From traveling to third-world nations to testifying before Legislative committees in Augusta, these teenagers are among the most involved and socially conscious in the state. Nominations were screened by a panel of four judges from teaching, social work, business and entertainment backgrounds. The winners, listed here in no particular rank or order, are youths committed to themselves and their communities. Each of them will receive a special plaque and recognition on www.20below. mainetoday.com. Clark's foray into state politics began when she left a turbulent home for foster care as an adolescent. She had difficulty seeing her younger brothers — who live with her biological parents on the opposite site of Mount Desert Island — so she sought a court order from a judge to force visitation. Clark learned a judge couldn't grant such an order under Maine law. She didn't let that stop her. "Acceptance of the way things are really frustrates me," Clark said. She helped draft legislation that would give judges the ability to allow separated foster children to visit each other. The House and Senate passed the bill last week. It was the result of hours of work with the Department of Health and Human Services and Muskie School of Public Service's Youth Leadership Advisory Team and several trips to testify in front of the Legislature's Judicial Committee. Gov. John Baldacci introduced the bill as part of his budget proposal in 2005. He was lobbied by Clark, who wrote him a letter about sibling visitations in foster care situations. The letter was part of a class assignment from social studies teacher Ian Braun, who asked his freshman class to draft letters to public officials about social issues. Clark wasn't required to mail the letter to get a grade for the project, but Braun said he usually encouraged his students to do so. "Rarely do kids actually send it off," he said. Clark mailed the letter. Shortly thereafter, she got a response from Baldacci that got the ball rolling on her proposal. Now she juggles high school with testimony on various foster-care issues at the State House, and former DHHS Commissioner John Nicholas knows her by her first name. "Nobody got as far as Kala," Braun said. Clark said she hopes to study political science at the University of Massachusetts or the University of Southern Maine this fall. She said she'd like to return to Maine, if she leaves for school, and work on affordable housing, agriculture and economic-development issues.
Staff Writer Elbert Aull can be contacted at 324-4888 or at: eaull@pressherald.com |
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