Maine Youth Action Network

Get Inspired: Success Stories from the Network

"Guard your light and protect it. Move it forward into the world and be fully confident that if we connect light to light to light, and join the lights together of the one billion young people in our world today, we will be enough to set our whole planet aglow."

~Hafsat Abiola


MYAN youth and adults are inspiring folks. All over the state youth and adults are making change in a variety of ways and are also feeling changed by their participation in activities and initiatives that help others in their communities.

Be part of the MYAN wave of inspiration that is rippling throughout the state and share your story of how you are making positive change in Maine. To submit YOUR story, contact Molly O'Connell.

 

Youth Award Opportunities & Highlights

 

Congratulations to the 2007 MYAN Youth Leadership Award Winners!

Go to the Conference page to learn more about this year's honorees.

Congratulations to the Phillips Middle School Student Council, winners of the 2007 Jane deFrees Youth Leadership Award from the Western Mountains Alliance!

2007 Jane deFrees Youth Award Winners from Phillips Middle SchoolStudents of the Phillips Middle School Student Council were presented with the Jane deFrees Youth Rural Leaders Award by the Western Mountains Alliance at the recent 20th anniversary celebration of the sustainable development organization. This is the first of a new biennial award for a youth-led social action group that has made a significant contribution to western Maine’s future. The award was established to honor the community building work of the late Jane deFrees of Rumford Point, one of the founders of the Western Mountains Alliance, and to encourage youth in Somerset, Piscataquis, Franklin, Somerset and Northern Androscoggin Counties to work for social change.

Phillips Middle School Student Council was selected for their work as a model of democratic citizen involvement. The group was recognized for their living constitution and taking initiative to address issues in the community. The youth have created a brochure highlighting heritage attractions in the Phillips area, held special ceremonies in the school to build school spirit and celebrate diversity, attended leadership summits and conferences, conducted a get-out-the-vote campaign, and raised over $2,000 for the American Cancer Society through local team participation in Relay for Life events.

Photo at right: Phillips Middle School Student Council. (front, left to right) Abbie Farrington, Krystal Lafkin, Brittney Stuard, Sadie James. (Back, left to right) Mariah Fidler, Lyndsey Beane, Alix Howard, Bridget Blood, Tabitha Huntoon. (Absent from photo) Angelica Levy and David Ricker.

 

Ignite Oxford County Honored by the American Lung AssociationTJ & Laura at the ALA Awards Banquet, Fall 2007

TJ Williams, Laura Murphy (pictured at right at the ALA Awards Banquet), Abigail Bronish & Megan Aresenault, the leadership team of Ignite Oxford County, were honored on Friday, September 28th at the American Lung Association of Maine's annual meeting for their role in Maine becoming the first state in the nation to ban flavored tobacco.

At the American Lung Association dinner and again at Mountain Valley High School's presentation of the award, Executive Director of Ignite Oxford County TJ Williams read the following statement:

Growing up, my brothers and I were exposed to the sneaky tactics that are used in marketing. I hated the way that BIG TOBACCO worked to target youth, but I lived with the fear that my siblings would fall into the hands of the deceitful tactics used. Not to mention I have lost 2 grandparents in a span of 6 months to the illnesses produced by smoking. Because of that tragic event, Ignite was started. It took me 6 years to do it, and now I am working towards bringing awareness to youth so they don’t have to experience the loss that I did.

In the past year, Maine has done very well to focus on the youth. The state has worked hard in tobacco control; therefore the straight A’s on the State of Maine Tobacco Control Report Card. Maine has given its youth protection in many ways. I am glad that Ignite could help. Maine is the leader in tobacco control, which is making an example to the rest of the nation. We have come so far in this area and I know more is to come. THERE IS NO TURNING BACK!!

Thank you Mountain Valley High School for all of the support and the American Lung Association for this opportunity and award. George Bernard Shaw once said, “Some look at things that are and ask why. I dream of things that never were and ask why not.” Looking at this quote, we know we are making change: TODAY – ALL DAY – EVERYDAY!!!

Check out the Lewiston Sun Journal article for more information about Ignite Oxford County's award. 
 


Greenville Youth Wins Maryann Hartman Young Social Justice Award!

Congratulations to Amelia Butman, a senior at Greenville High School in Greenville, Maine, who recently received the 2006 Maryann Hartman's Young Social Justice Award! This award recognizes distinguished Maine women and their accomplishments in politics, business, education, the arts and community service. The work of the women selected provides inspiration to others and demonstrates the levels of attainment now possible for women. Maryann Hartman was a professor in Speech Communication at UMO who passed away in 1980 at the young age of 53 from cancer. The award honors the spirit, achievement and zest for life that she epitomized.

Amelia Butman co founded the MOOSE Group (Mentors Offering Anti Smoking Education), which advocates for healthy eating and physical activity as alternative choices to smoking. She was a representative for the state of Maine at a National Summit held in Washington, D.C. In 2004 she also started Maine's first chapter of Becca's Closet, a national nonprofit organization that distributes prom gowns to young women who can't afford them. This has evolved to add wedding attire for the bride and her party, along with tuxedos for young men. In addition, she has met with girls in middle schools throughout Piscataquis County to talk about peer pressure, bullying and discrimination.

Read the Press about Amelia's award! http://www.wcsh6.com/news/search/article.aspx?storyid=34648 

 

Inspiring Stories
from and about youth & youth-serving organizations in Maine.  

Mountain Valley High School Youth Wellness Team Tells the TRUTH 

The Mountain Valley High School Youth Wellness Team (YPT) is working on a new project through a grant from the American Legacy Foundation's TRUTH project. The YWT will develop a theatrical production that will eventually be professionally filmed. They are in the process of making a training documentary of the pre-production and post-production process for the State to use as a tool. There is info about the project posted on their website at http://www.rvhcc.org/activities.html, and you can watch clips of interviews with some of the actors here.

 

Project Aware Players Premiere "Untold Stories"

Untold Stories is the Project Aware Players' second movie, and was written, directed and performed by youth. The film raises awareness for bullying and harassment at the junior high level. The film premiered on May 21st in Biddeford. Visit http://www.projectaware.net/ to learn more or watch the promotional clip! 

 

Lewiston Youth Advisory Council U Booze U Lose Initiative Premiers Movie

The Lewiston Youth Advisory Council's U Booze U Looze has created an underage drinking awareness film titled SMASHED. The movie is now available for purchase online through Via-Vision of Lewiston. In addition, the DVD has been approved for use in Maine's driver's education curriculum! The online order site is www.smashedvideo.com.

Listen to a PSA created by the students to raise awareness about the dangers of underage drinking and to promote the movie.  

 

Getting Inspired, and Bringing It Back: My Trip to the Community Anti-Drug Coalitions of America (CADCA) Forum
by Mikala Thompson, Schenk High School, Katahdin Area Partnership

During the week of February 11th, 2008 I was fortunate enough to attend a Community Anti-Drug Coalitions of America (CADCA) Forum in our nation’s capitol, Washington D.C. It was truly an awesome experience and I am very glad that the opportunity was presented to me. The theme this year was "Sustaining Success in a Time of Change". It was amazing to be surrounded by so many people that were so willing to try and meet that goal.

At the forum I got to take a series of workshops just for youth. The topics ranged from leadership and team building to substance abuse prevention. The workshop presenters were very well informed as well as very engaging and relatable. From these workshops I received a variety of information, techniques, and ideas that I plan on applying in my own youth group at my school.

Of all of the workshops and speeches, one really stuck out in my mind. It was about leadership as well as leadership styles. Because I liked this workshop so much and it was so beneficial, I have made the decision to actually try and teach this workshop at our Maine Youth Action Network's Peer Leadership Conference for 2008. I think that this will be the most significant thing that I bring back from the CADCA forum. As for now, I have already reported out about the forum to my coalition and my youth group, Katahdin Area Partnership, which provided the funding so that I could attend the forum.

Overall I believe it was a great experience and I am glad that I was chosen to represent my town’s youth. I loved getting to meet new people and share different things that have or have not worked for us, along with coming up with new and fresh ideas. I'm very excited about bringing what I learned in Washington D.C. back here to our Maine youth.  

 

Youth Launch 2nd IGNITE Chapter in Maine 

During the Summer of 2007, Ignite Kennebec County became Maine's second official Ignite chapter, and is led bOfficers of Ignite Oxford County & Ignite Kennebec County with Governor Baldacci, Fall 2007y Rosie Buckmore and Patrick Burnham who you can reach at Rosie@IgniteGeneration.orgPatrick@IgniteGeneration.org. (Read more about Maine's other Ignite chapter--Ignite Oxford County--below!) and

(Pictured at right are officers of Ignite Oxford County and Ignite Kennebec County with Governor Baldacci at the Fall 2007 Press Conference regarding Maine's ban of flavored cigarettes.)

 

12 Year Old Speaks to the UN

Sit back and watch this video of environmental activist Severn Suzuki's plea (made when she was 12) to the UN to address global environmental & social issues, and prepare to be awed. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5g8cmWZOX8Q. Although this is not a story directly from Maine, the issues Severn speaks of still affect everyone, everywhere today, although this speach was made in 1992.  Please note: the Maine Youth Action Network, People's Regional Opportunity Program, University of Southern Maine, and the Maine Center for Disease Control and Prevention, Dept. of Health & Human Services are not responsible for the content or materials posted on youtube.com.

 

5th Annual Aroostook Partnership Extravaganza!

Four Healthy Maine Partnership Coalitions - STOP (Southern Aroostook Tobacco-Free Outreach Project), Partnership for a Healthy Community, St. John Valley Partnership, and Power of Prevention joined together with the help of a $20,000 grant from the Partnership for A Tobacco-Free Maine to host the fifth annual Aroostook Partnership Extravaganza (APE) Youth Summit at the University of Maine at Presque Isle on Tuesday, April 3. Over 400 students in Grades 6-8 from Fort Kent to Katahdin were in attendance.

The purpose of the summit was to train students to be youth advocates in their school and communities regarding the issues of tobacco prevention, nutrition and physical activity which are all goals of the Healthy Maine Partnerships across the State of Maine.

The event featured keynote speaker David Goerlitz. Mr. Goerlitz is a professional actor, producer, model public speaker and educator. His career includes work in film, stage, commercial advertising and tobacco free activism. Although he has been featured in highly successful commercials for a number of vendors, he is perhaps best known as the lead Winston Man in RJ Reynolds’ lucrative "Search and Rescue" advertisement series, which helped move Winston cigarettes from Number 4 to Number 2 in worldwide sales. Mr. Goerlitz was featured in 42 of these ads – more than any other tobacco model, including the Marlboro Men. In November, 1988, he took an historic stand against the Tobacco Industry by publicly participating in The Great American Smokeout and condemning the industry’s advertising that targets kids and their sale of tobacco products to the young people of the world.

The APE Youth Summit also featured over 29 different workshops for students to attend including the All Pro Soccer Workshop that featured former professional soccer player Gary Walker of Manchester, England, rock-climbing, adventure kayaking, salsa dancing, tai chi, yoga, cross country running, media advocacy, Maine Winter Sports, Winter Kids, Fun with Nutrition and more.

Organizers of the event felt that it was extremely successful and hope to offer the day to students again next year! 

 

Thrive: Implementing a Trauma Informed System of Care for Maine

Thrive has partnered in exciting ways with their community to expand youth involvement on their staff. Thrive works with local Colleges & Universities to have work study positions and connects with the local High School to offer students ways to fulfill their community service requirement. They also have stipended youth positions for special projects, and are in the process of developing additional part-time youth positions that will support their efforts to have a peer to peer programming component, which was suggested by young people receiving their services.

Thrive is also currently nominated for an ECCO Award for their 100% youth driven public service announcement created in conjunction with FOX23, which you can see on their website at www.thriveinitiative.org.

 

Dirigo High School Hosts 4th Annual Diversity Day Event

On January 29, 2007, Dirigo High School held its fourth annual Diversity Day event to raise awareness in the school and community for the different cultures and experiences in our state. Students and teachers collaborated to plan the event, coordinating speakers on a wide range of topics including the Holocaust, immigration, sexual orientation, brain injury, domestic violence, music & culture and much more.

The event continues to grow each year. This year's attendance increased from last year, with students and teachers choosing which workshops and speakers to attend. Congratulations to this year's team of students and teachers, facilitated by learning lab coordinator Norm Greenburg, for planning an exceptional event!

Read more in this Lewiston Sun Journal Article.

Want to learn more? Contact Norm Greenburg of Dirigo High School at 562-4251.

 

Performing for a Cure
http://www.wcsh6.com/mobile/news/article.asp?id=55376 

On March 18th, 2007, Scarborough area youth held the 2nd Annual Perform for a Cure variety show to raise money for the American Cancer Society. This year's event raised $3,000! The event was born in 2006 when a nine year old girl whose mother has battled cancer multiple times had the idea to put on a show to raise money for a cause. Many of the young people and adults who organized or performed during the event have friends or family who have been affected by cancer, and Perform for a Cure was born.

 

Ignite's 11th Chapter
From Ignite President Katherine Klem

I'm thrilled to announce the creation of Ignite's 11th chapter: Ignite Oxford County!  This chapter operates in Maine under the leadership of TJ Williams, a 16 year old, and Abby Bronish, who's 15 years old.  They were inspired to get involved with Ignite after attending a presentation given by Ignite Dartmouth's Executive Directors, Courtney Otto & Brice Acree.

TJ and Abby, welcome to the Ignite family! We so look forward to working with you to counter Big Tobacco's influence on our generation in Maine. Our fight rolls on,

Katherine Klem, President
Ignite National - USA

 

Igniting Maine Against Tobacco
by TJ Williams, Students Working Against Tobacco (SWAT), Mountain Valley High School

At MYAN's 2006 Stop! Quit! Resist! Anti-Tobacco Summit, a group of people from my school saw a presentation about an organization called Ignite from Ignite's Dartmouth chapter. Since that summit, our small group that was interested has applied for a registered chapter of our own. Our school is glad to say that we are now connected with a very effective organization to increase our fight against tobacco in Maine.

Ignite was founded by Katherine Klem, who wondered why youth did not have a nationwide movement that would allow them to fight the tobacco industry with one voice. Klem was also named the 2002 Campaign for Tobacco-Free Kids' Advocate of the Year. Ignite is a group that works at local and national levels to change tobacco policy, pressure politicians to reject campaign contributions from tobacco companies and their interests, inform voters of tobacco issues in key elections, and coordinate national political efforts. Check out Ignite's website at: http://www.ignitegeneration.org/
For more information about Mountain Valley High School's Ignite chapter, email me at ignite4maine@ignitegeneration.org.

Check out this Sun Journal article about Ignite's first chapter!

 

A Teen Successfully Impacts Her Community 

My name is Rebecca Powers and before I became a freshman at the University Of Maine this year, I spent my junior and senior years of high school working on Suicide Prevention efforts at my alma mater, Freeport High School.

As a junior, I was asked by my Jobs For Maine's Graduates specialist, Jay Harper to create a public service announcement that would alert the community of an issue that pertained to teenagers. I chose Teen Suicide. The more I researched my topic, the more I became alarmed to know that it was the second leading cause of death among teenagers in Maine. At that point, I started my journey of creating a prevention program within my school. At first, resistance from my schools administration caused me to postpone my efforts, but after I contacted Deb Bicknell from the Maine Youth Action Network, the pieces of the puzzle started to fall into place.

On March 7, 2006, 14 teachers from Freeport, Amy and myself attended a special Gatekeeper Training held at the Freeport Community Library. After our full day there, the teachers and administration decided to pursue the training further, and in April, three teachers as well as myself made the trip to Augusta to attended the "Training of Trainers" training and by May, six trained teachers, as well as the Principal Mr. Edwards, spent a week setting up protocols for our school. With these preventative measures in place, the school will be able to help its students for many years to come.

Working in Preventing Teen Suicide has given me a lot and has been one of the most rewarding experiences of my life. I have gained so much confidence, been taught to never give up, and to believe in myself and my ability to make a difference. I know that suicide can be a scary and a hard thing to talk to teenagers about, but I also know that Franklin Delano Roosevelt said, "There is nothing to fear, but fear itself." With that in mind, another effort in prevention, was working with Amy Farley and Deb Bicknell to create a product that could be distributed statewide. 

The product created was a bookmark, to offer resources to students on this important topic.  Check out the new MYSPP Youth Suicide Prevention Page where you can find out how to get the new bookmarks as well as additional resources to help your community address youth suicide.

 

Other Success Stories

Bangor Sk8park: Youth & Adult Partnership Plan for Success!

 

 

Websites About Inspiring Stories:

Visions of a Better Future
http://www.vbwf.org/

Images and Voices of Hope is an international conversation about the impact of images and stories on people, families, communities, cultures and the world.