Entering Freshmen

Some Kids Get an Early Ride Around the Political Arena

By Lexi Gray Andrews / Photography by Jonathan Timmes

For the second time in a year, Kristen Skowronski, an eighth grader at Herndon’s Carson Middle School, is appearing on “Virginia Report,” the local television show hosted by Del. Kenneth R. Plum. Slowly and carefully, with hands folded in her lap, Kristen, 14, answers question after question about her political activities, which include a stint as a Senate page and efforts that led to the passage of a Virginia law banning phosphates in dishwashing detergent.

With a smile that reveals two rows of metal braces, Kristen comments, “I use phosphate-free dishwashing detergent, and the dishes get clean just as well as dishwashing detergent with phosphates. And it doesn’t make a difference.”

Kristen is just one of many politically active students who are too young to vote, but too passionate to stay quiet about their views. In addition to piano lessons and lacrosse practices, these students have chosen to make their mark through grassroots action. But unlike other extracurricular activities, their progress does not spring from the expectations of teachers or coaches. It is instead the students’ own motivations that drive them to political activism.

For young people in the Washington, D.C. area, the excitement of the 2008 elections is compounded with the realization that they are only a short drive away from where the major decision-making occurs. D.C.-area students have an advantage, since many grow up with campaigns and political protests as the backdrop for everyday life.

Meg Dvorak, 18, of Woodbridge, works as an intern in the “war room” of Sen. John McCain’s campaign headquarters in Crystal City. When she speaks about the Republican presidential candidate, it’s with more than a touch of enthusiasm and admiration.

If something is being said about McCain, it’s Meg’s job to track it: “We go through political blogs and other news articles, and we pull out anything about the senator, and then send alerts to the rest of the campaign. We really just monitor everything.”

Meg, the youngest member of the staff, doesn’t think her age has any impact on how she’s viewed. “It’s not strange, being the only high school student, because everyone’s really nice to me—though they do crack jokes every once in awhile. Overall, they don’t treat me any differently, and I love it.”

A large amount of Meg’s senior year in high school was devoted to McCain’s campaign; each day during the final leg of her time at Manassas’s Osbourn Park High School was spent counting the seconds until the final bell—when she could race to her internship in Crystal City.

According to the young activist, she viewed her time before college as one of the last chances she’ll have to be so vocal about politics. Meg entered the United States Naval Academy this fall, where she said she would faithfully serve the candidate who enters the office of commander in chief—regardless of party affiliation.

Faced with some serious responsibility for a teenage girl, Meg handles it all in stride. “I still have to convince my mom all the time that it’s safe for me to be driving all the way to Crystal City every week,” she laughed. She recounted the first time she met McCain, when the candidate appeared for a support rally at the Virginia Aviation Museum in Richmond.

“I didn’t want my mom to tell me I couldn’t go, so I went down there without telling my parents. Actually, during the drive down I called my mom and came clean,” said Meg, who smiled and added, “It was worth the risk of getting in trouble.” Meg, who also offered her volunteer services without first checking with her parents, has no doubts about that—during the event she was able to speak with McCain and have her photo taken with him.

“I called out to him as he was about to get on his plane and told him how I’m going to the Naval Academy, just like he did.”

Kristen’s personal interest in politics was born of a school science project, for which she researched how phosphates pollute the Chesapeake Bay. The youth was so moved by the project that she decided to gather her research and collect signatures for a petition to ban them from dishwashing detergents.

A short time later, Plum received a manila envelope containing both Kristen’s research and the petition, signed by his constituents. Less than a year after Plum opened that manila envelope, a bill to ban phosphates in detergents by July 1, 2010 was passed into Virginia law.

“Most of the time people just come to legislators with ideas,” Plum said. “Kristen came to me with research and pertinent information, so it was easy for me to move forward with the legislation.”

Plum applauded Kristen, who provided testimony for her cause at a hearing of Virginia’s Agriculture, Conservation and Natural Resources Committee, for her dedication. “It was an opportunity for her to stand up in front of a committee. And let me tell you, she wasn’t scared at all. If that was me at her age, I would have been dying a thousand deaths.”

To his credit, Plum has become something of a mentor for Kristen, beyond their work on the phosphates law. Around the middle of Kristen’s eighth-grade year, Plum suggested she apply for the Virginia Senate and House page programs, designed for students aged 13 to 14.

Kristen was accepted into the Senate page program, where she served from January to March, living in Richmond during the week and traveling back to her home in Reston for weekends.

“Pages are important arms and legs for legislators who are otherwise occupied,” Plum said. “These kids enter the page program with no experience, and you really see them blossom by the end of it.”

Kristen, described by the Virginia Senate clerk Gwen Bailey as an intelligent young lady who was able to grasp onto the process of legislation more quickly than most, speaks with hushed excitement about her time with the page program. Her primary responsibility, she explained, was to “wait on the Senate floor to help with anything they might need.

“Being a page was fun because I was able to see what most senators are like when they’re not in chambers.”

Shane Grannum, 14, of Centreville, has been campaigning on and off since he was in fourth grade, when he was only 10 years old. His political activism was inspired by Howard Dean’s campaign for the 2004 presidential primary. After deciding Dean was the man for America, Shane began volunteering a few hours a week at the former candidate’s headquarters in Falls Church.

“Howard Dean really talked about health care in a way that hadn’t been done for a long time. With him talking about it, it prompted all Democrats to begin talking about it again and make it a big issue,” Shane said.

As a result of his campaign efforts for Dean, Shane was featured in a CNN documentary about the presidential candidate, entitled “True Believers.” He was also featured in the KidsPost section of The Washington Post. When Dean dropped out of the 2004 presidential race, Shane turned his attention to the Kerry/Edwards campaign by handing out political literature at local schools.

Now, Shane’s resume is the stuff of political science majors’ dreams—he’s worked on presidential, senatorial and gubernatorial campaigns, though still several years from being able to legally register to vote. The Sully District Democratic Committee nominated him for their 2008 volunteer of the year and the Lynda and Chuck Robb Award for Best Upcoming Democrat.

On the national front, Shane is a longtime supporter of Hillary Clinton, and volunteered for her since the beginning days of her campaign. Shane worked by offering his services as a “phone banker”—calling strangers to speak with them about the presidential candidate. And on the day of the Virginia primaries, he spent hours in the rain at two local polling centers to show his support. “I’m really devoted and committed to the campaign because I see experience and actions as the two biggest qualifications for a president.”

Both of Shane’s parents are Democrats, which he said he knows has somewhat influenced his views. Yet he claims not to be afraid to disagree with them—his father is partial to Barack Obama.

Shane’s mother, Denise Grannum, and her husband, Roger, have always encouraged their son’s political motivations “by exposing him at a very young age when he showed interest in politics to the system, and we also have made it a point to always be available to transport him to different political events and meetings.”
Some of those meetings were for the Sully District Democratic Committee, the chairman of which, Mary Lee Cerillo, has known Shane since his early days on the local political scene. “When Shane first started coming to our meetings, the other members were very supportive of him from the beginning. They would sit and listen to him speak and just marvel at how bright he was,” Cerillo said, adding, “He puts some of us adults to shame. When it comes to politics, Shane could debate any adult. I think he actually knows more about politics and what’s going on than a lot of adults.”

According to Shane, none of his close friends share his enthusiasm for politics. In 2006, Shane founded the Young Sully Democrats, a club for students under the voting age who were passionate about politics. The group consisted of about five members and disbanded in 2007.

“People have always questioned my age because they’re intrigued that I would be involved at such a young age. I don’t necessarily mind it, but it would never be asked if more people my age were involved,” Shane said.

“I just don’t think many kids his age are as interested in politics as he is,” Cerillo noted. “Ten years from now, I see Shane running for some kind of political office. It wouldn’t be at the national level, since he would only be 24 or 25, but trust me when I tell you he will be doing something with politics. It’s just really the love of his life.”

Yasmine Evans, 16, a junior at Flint Hill School in Oakton, is an eloquent speaker with a level of confidence that far surpasses her age. With a flair for debate and a desire to learn “all sides of the story,” Yasmine has taken advantage of her proximity to Capitol Hill through an internship with Rep. Peter King (R-N.Y.) that began in August 2007.

For her, the program with King was first set up through an annual initiative of the Girls Scouts Council of the Nation’s Capital (GSCNS), which matches young women with participating members of Congress for one week. (Yasmine has been a member of the Girl Scouts since she was in first grade.) About 100 young women participate in the “week on Congress” program each year, according to Meghan Delgiacco, GSCNS’s team program specialist.

Yasmine, a Democrat, was randomly assigned to the Republican King’s office. Though her personal political beliefs were not an exact match, Yasmine said she enjoyed the internship from hour one.

The feeling, it seems, was mutual. After one week on the job, King’s staff members asked Yasmine to continue working for the office. Now, Yasmine volunteers during school breaks and whenever she has enough free time, answering phones, speaking with King’s constituents, attending hearings and giving tours of the Capitol.

“I’m glad I was randomly assigned to Peter King’s office, because it allowed me to explore the relations and dynamics of a Republican office,” Yasmine said. “I’m open to exploring different things—there’s nothing wrong with understanding and accepting what an individual has to say even though you might not agree with them.”

Practice supplements her preaching, as Yasmine is heavily involved with educating others about the importance of diversity and multiculturalism. She currently serves as president of All Cultures All People, her high school’s diversity club, and is also involved with the Black Student Union. She has organized school-wide discussions about multiculturalism, socioeconomics and gender roles.

“Yasmine is an earnest young lady, mature beyond her years in the way in which she approaches the world. She is aware of important national and world issues, and she believes that it is both important and worthwhile to become involved in these issues,” said Yasmine’s advisor, Cathy Steg, Flint Hill’s English department coordinator.

“I love the fact that she is both a passionate idealist and a pragmatist,” Steg added. “She sees a need, she makes a plan, she finds an adult to help implement the plan, she makes good things happen!”

When given the opportunity for formal involvement in the political system, each of these young students has come to succeed. Perhaps one of the best ways to determine who will be tomorrow’s leaders is to let younger folks lead today, Plum commented.

“My experience is that kids thrive when you give them responsibilities. I think the secret is just to give kids more responsibility, and they’ll become successful from there,” he said. “It’s important for the future to have young people standing up to say, ‘We need to do this. We need to change.’”

(October 2008)

Tags: Education, kids and politics