I am and will always be a “govie.” What is a govie, you ask? It is your son’s first grade teacher. It is the architect who designed your house. It is the researcher who helped develop your antibiotics. It is your best friend, it may even be you.

For those readers who are not familiar with the Governor’s Schools of Excellence (PGSE), the top juniors and seniors from high schools around the state are selected to attend class, tuition free, for five weeks. Areas of study include: the school of Arts, Sciences, Global Entrepreneurship, Health Care, Information Society and Technology, International Studies, Teaching, and Agricultural Sciences. Graduates are govies.

Governor Rendell has recently announced that due to budget cuts, these eight schools of excellence may have to be terminated. A decision could come any day.

Each of these schools produces a myriad more of better educated more mature and learned people than any other program in the country. Although the entire country is in a stressful economic crisis, without the opportunity of Governor’s school, so many students like me would not have the opportunities we have now.

I attended the School for the Arts (PGSA) this summer which opened the door for me into almost any art school I wanted to attend. Also, for many schools in-state, being a PGSE alumnus offers scholarships unavailable to other students. I ask, no, I beg of you to help support the cause to keep these Governor’s schools. The opportunity given to me has changed my life, and to take that away from anyone in the future is unfair.

I saw with my own eyes as 200 kids from all over the state grew together and became a more mature group of people. These are the people that will advocate the arts in our future that will keep them alive for the generations to come. I know as well that in the other Governor’s Schools, a very similar bond was made between the students and that all of those students feel the same way about their own Governor’s School. PGSA became my family. Everyone was greeted with smile and left with many hugs and promises of further contact. The relationships that were created are the threads that will grow to create amazing connections in the future.

As an active citizen of Pennsylvania, I am so disheartened to hear that the Governor now wants to end the program. When parents, grandparents, friends and family greet the student that has just spent their summer learning from this amazing and eye opening program, they just know that the program has changed their loved one for the better. Almost every alumnus from any Governor’s school feels very similarly but our voices may not be enough.

We need your help, and so do all of the potential artists, dancers, doctors, teachers, biologists, photographers, writers, computer scientists, global entrepreneurs and anyone else who could have the opportunity to attend PGSE in the future. We need you to show Governor Rendell how important these programs are. It may cost a lot but I think those extra dollars going towards hundred’s of children’s well being each year are worth it. Every PGSE is a life changing experience and the lives of the kids who come out of there are worth more than saving money.

Kathryn Yuen is a student at Delaware Valley High School and a member of the Pike County Youth Coalition.

The following is a response to a letter from Delaware Valley School Board director John Kupillas that was printed in the Pike County Dispatch on October 16, 2008.

Regarding filling a board vacancy, Mr. Kupillas wrote:

“Can a teenager fresh out of high school connect to the residents served by this board? Maybe in the future, but not at this point. The section of the brain responsible for decision making and rational thinking doesn’t fully mature until the mid-twenties. Proof? Try to get auto insurance if you are a teen. The risk is the highest of any age group.” (Pike Dispatch, 10/16/08)

It is discouraging and disheartening that a public official, especially one who is responsible for the education of thousands our community’s students, would express such contempt for the candidacy of a recent Delaware Valley High School graduate, Ryan Balton.

Mr. Balton is over 18 years of age and has lived in the district for over one year, meeting both qualifications for office. Disregarding Mr. Balton’s candidacy because of his age is not only unfair but also blatantly discriminatory.

“To dismiss young people who want to become further involved in the democratic process through seeking public office, especially by reasoning that their brains are not fully developed, is destructive and unconscionable,” said Nick Troiano, PCYC’s Executive Director.

Though PCYC does not endorse political candidates, including Mr. Balton, we support having a youth perspective in decision-making.

“On a school board with nine members, the idea of having one of those be a recent student with intimate knowledge of the school system following 13 years of education should be welcomed, not publicly scorned,” commented Sam Dutkus, Board Member of PCYC.

According to the Young Elected Leaders Project at Rutgers University, over half of the 20 most recent presidents held public office before age 35. Young people have demonstrated their capacity to be a constructive part of our governance. In this most recent election cycle, youth voter turnout has reached historic levels. We recognize that encouraging youth civic participation is vital to the future of a healthy democratic society.

Young people under the age of 24 gathered in Pike County in an unprecedented effort almost a year ago to form the Pike County Youth Coalition, which has grown to over 200 members and supporters since then.

“Our main mission is to mobilize young people to become engaged in their community. We find it insulting and counter-productive to have a school board member, who should be nurturing this quality in DV’s students, say such disheartening things to our community’s youth,” said Eric Neumann, Chair of the Schools and Education Committee for PCYC.

Young people’s brains are developed enough to let us drive, vote, and even die in war. It is outrageous to claim that when it comes to having a say in the affairs of the school district we all deeply care about, that our brains are then not able to function as well as those of older people.

“We strongly believe that participation in community improvement transcends age. Young people bring a useful perspective to the decision-making table, and it is very discouraging that Mr. Kupillas would publicly express such disdain for the efforts of a recent graduate to use his experience and knowledge to serve the district,” Troiano added.

Media Contact:

Kaitlin Paul, PCYC Communications Director; (845) 741-2754

Available for Comment:

Maya Enista, Chief Executive Officer of Mobilize.org – a national all-partisan youth civic engagement organization; (202) 736-5703

For more on the Pike County Youth Coalition, please visit www.pikeyouth.org.

CAMP HILL PA - The Pennsylvania Statewide Afterschool/Youth Development Network (PSAYDN) today announced that Oct. 16 will be designated as Lights o n Afterschool to call attention to the importance of afterschool programs for Pennsylvania's children, families and communities.

More than 250 communities across the Commonwealth will mark the day through various youth- focused events.

In America today, 1 in 4 youth -- 14.3 million children -- are alone and unsupervised after school; in Pennsylvania, 26 percent of youth are "latchkey kids" who go unsupervised after school. Pennsylvania ranks 31st in the nation in terms of percent of youth who are unsupervised after school.

"Lights o n Afterschool is a powerful reminder that afterschool programs keep children safe, inspire them to learn, and relieve working parents of worries about how their children spend their afternoons. Unfortunately, we don't have enough afterschool programs, and too many kids are home alone in the afternoons or out o n the streets where they can be exposed to crime or engage in unhealthy behaviors," said Kisha Bird, PSADYN Project Director.

Lights o n Afterschool was launched in October 2000 with celebrations in more than 1,200 communities nationwide. The event grew in 2001 to more than 3,600 events and more than 7,500 in 2007. Lights o n Afterschool is a project of the Afterschool Alliance, a national nonprofit organization dedicated to ensuring that all children have access to quality, affordable afterschool programs.

"Afterschool programs provide opportunities to help young people develop into successful adults and are key to children's success," Bird added.

Lights o n Afterschool events are scheduled October 16 across Pennsylvania. To find out about Lights o n Afterschool events in your community, visit: http://www.psaydn.org/.

About Pennsylvania Statewide Afterschool/Youth Development Network (PSAYDN)

Formed in 2004, Pennsylvania Statewide Afterschool/Youth Development Network (PSAYDN) operates out of the Center for Schools and Communities in Camp Hill. The organization promotes sustainable, high-quality out-of-school time youth development programs through advocacy and capacity building to enhance the welfare of Pennsylvania's children, youth and families. PSAYDN's mission is that all children and youth deserve access to high quality out-of-school time programs that promote positive youth development and support the successful transition to adulthood.

Reposted from tristateobserver.com.

BE AWARE – Youth crime and gang activity are on the rise in the Poconos. A “Community Safety Awareness” presentation on these issues will be held on at two East Stroudsburg Area School District locations/times (same presentation.

This is a free presentation sponsored by the ESASD. The presentation is open to everyone and will be especially informative for the community leaders, community associations, parents, teachers and students of East Stroudsburg.

The featured speaker will be Michael Leonard Sr., a criminal justice consultant, author and gang expert. The Rallying Youth Organized Together (RYOT) Against Rape from Safe Haven, Inc. will also present a socio-drama on the dangers of gang-related activity.

Saturday, October 18 (Same presentation, both locations) 9:00 – 10:30 Technology and Learning Center (old ESE building) 1:00 – 2:30 High School North Auditorium

From pocononews.net.

A letter to the editor in this week's PIke County Courier urged the community not to support lowering the drinking age to 18, as was recently suggested by a growing group (120+) of college presidents part of the Amethyst Initiative. They argue that the current law increases problems associated with underage drinking by forcing it underground into a dark and dangerous world.

I will withhold giving my two cents on the topic here save for some personal observations, but I think it is a good idea for young people, and the community, to engage in some dialogue on this topic. Not that Pike County can change the law, or that the PCYC will have much say in the matter, but I think one thing can be said for certain and reflected in our approach to this topic locally, alcohol consumption by young people becomes that much more perilous when we treat it as a sort of taboo topic.

For instance: A friend of mine recalls when he went to college, his RA went so far as to provide the residents of the building with alcohol on weekends but ensured it was consumed in a relatively safe and responsible manner by the grown adults present (most of whom who were 18 years of age and could otherwise be dying for their country). Let's contrast that to where I went to school at American University, which had a "dry campus" where even 21 year-olds could not consume. As a result, most students engaged in binge drinking and hard-alcohol consumption. That led to many more being hospitalized and injured.

College presidents and many others, in my interpretation and reading, have looked at underage drinking, by 18-21 year olds in particular, as an inevitable circumstance that we need to deal with more pragmatically as a country. Of course others, have stood up to this idea saying that only more harm can come.

What has been your experience or what are your thoughts?

Post by Nick Troiano, Executive Director

View the letter: http://www.strausnews.com/articles/2008/09/16/pike_county_courier/opinion/1.txt