Articles

Shannon Marrero
Shannon Marrero is a senior at Eastside High in Gainesville, Florida, and she attributes her passion for community service to two significant individuals, U.S. Surgeon General Richard Carmona and Iraqi peace activist, Zahara’a Taher.

Shannon was the U.S. representative for the HOBY World Leadership Congress where she was mentored by U.S. Surgeon General Richard Carmona. She learned that his grandparents, like hers, were from poor Puerto Rican neighborhoods and only had eighth-grade educations. Shannon was impressed with the way Dr. Carmona changed his life and worked to influence world changes as U.S. Surgeon General. At the World Leadership Conference, Shannon was encouraged to work with an adult mentor and was paired with an Iraqi woman named Zahara’a Taher. After spending a week together, Zahara’a returned to Iraq where she was kidnapped and brutally murdered. A sign was left around her neck warning others not to associate with the United States. Shannon marked this loss by stating: “Through my grief I remembered her bravery and her desire for youth to make this a better world.”

Shannon used her experience and leadership skills to form and implement three ongoing projects. First, Shannon started an online website, Teens for a United World Citizenship, where youth from all over the world are asked to sign a pledge to work toward peace and understanding. Hundreds of teens have joined the website pledge.

Shannon’s second project involved extending the International Baccalaureate (IB) program to Hispanic and African American students at her high school. Shannon worked with her school staff and administration and University of Florida facilitators to create the “Mix It Integration” program. The “Mix It Integration” program is designed to foster communication among people of other races: “People kids would not normally talk to.” Her third contribution has been to mentor elementary school students through the Florida Teen Trendsetter Mentors program.

Recently, Shannon was accepted to Harvard University. She is also a semi-finalist in the Coca-Cola scholarship competition. Shannon will find out in February if she is a finalist. She has been chosen to receive the Elder and Leemaur Publishers Award and Scholarship and will have her writing published in a collection of essays, “ Authors of Tomorrow". Finally, Shannon received "Volunteer of the Year" from the Alachua County School System through her work done in founding and directing the Teen Trendsetter's Reading Mentors Program. The Program enlists high school students to mentor and tutor elementary students in an impoverished area where state test scores were low. The Teen Trendsetter's Reading Mentors Program conducted research and gave tests to determine reading capabilities. The reading scores of the children in the mentoring program have increased significantly. Consequently, the Teen Trendsetter's Reading Mentor Program will receive state funds to continue and expand the program.

As president of her graduating class, Shannon plans to speak during her commencement speech about overcoming obstacles. The commencement speech will be dedicated to Zahara’a Taher, who gave her life to help others achieve their dreams.


Derek Rodriguez
Derek Rodriguez was born in California. He moved to Oregon at the age of five. He is a senior at West Albany High School, in Albany Oregon, and although Albany has a very small Hispanic population (4.4%), Derek has not let “that become a barrier for involvement.”

Derek volunteers in various programs, but his most fulfilling work is for the Linn County Sheriff’s Office Search and Rescue (SAR) Team. SAR is a team of volunteer youth and sheriff officers who are highly trained to respond to emergencies. Derek is a staff sergeant, the highest-ranking position. He is responsible for preparing a platoon of 25 youth before missions such as missing-person searches, rescue missions, body recovery, or evidence searches. In 2005, he was awarded the Sheriff’s Office Volunteer of the Year Award for Search and Rescue.

Derek has also volunteered with the Linn County Alcohol and Drug Prevention Program for the past three years, distributing substance abuse information at health fairs and community events. He participated in a minors decoy operation to educate store owners and employees about selling tobacco to minors. In May 2005, he began collecting data and developing prevention materials for use in local schools. He also volunteers in the children’s program with his church. Derek was additionally selected as one of 24 youth to participate in the Albany Youth Leadership program sponsored by the Albany Chamber of Commerce.

Derek is very active in his school. He started a backpacking club because he enjoys the outdoors. His involvement gained the approval of the school administration, recruiting two teachers to act as adult advisors. He is also a mentor for freshman students and a peer mediator.

Many of Derek’s community service activities involve mentoring. Derek believes mentoring is important: “Because people need someone to look up to who can model a positive lifestyle. Positive leaders help create a healthy community, and that is what I am striving to achieve.” After graduating from high school Derek is interested in pursuing a career in law enforcement.

To read about all of the essay winners go to http://lideres.nclr.org/opportunities/2006_essay_contest_/2005_essay_contest_winners/