MADD 2007 YOUTH POWER SUMMIT AT CLARK UNIVERSITY
by The Kids
July 30, 2007 —
Allie Panetta, Miguel Lõndono,
Lauren MacIntosh, Christina Wigglesworth, Aaron Brug, Maggie
Grabmeier, Greg Hadley, and Tim Braga are the eight youth from
Hopkinton High School that represented the “be FREE!” Project
with Renée Cammarata at the 2007 MADD Youth Power Summit.
Mothers Against Drunk Driving (MADD) held the conference at
Clark University in Worcester to address rising concerns over
underage drinking. While at the conference, each group developed
in-depth plans on how to improve their community.
WHAT WE DID:
The purpose of the MADD Power Summit was for youth to gather
ideas and develop a community plan to address youth substance
abuse while building leadership skills in the process. What we
accomplished was pretty amazing! Not only did we work in our own
groups (called action pacts) to develop our individual community
action plan, we also worked with a group that consisted of kids
from all over the state (called fusion groups) to gain
perspective on how other communities are dealing with
youth substance abuse issues. We put a lot of thought and
consideration into our community plan. After much discussion and
planning, we hope our plan will be both idealistic and practical
while meeting all the goals of the “be FREE!” Project. Our group
will be unveiling its plan to our coalition here in
Hopkinton over the summer.
On a broader scale, we also went to the State House to lobby
our legislators about issues that MADD is committed to. Allie
Panetta spoke during the press conference and represented us all
very well! Since we were short on time, the group decided that
Lauren and Allie would speak with State Senator Spilka and
Representative Loscocco about our local initiative here
in Hopkinton, while the rest of the group worked on our
community project. We were received warmly, though we had to
talk fast as they were both in session at the time!
In addition to all the hard work, we had a little fun too!
Each night had an activity planned that kept us busy until
"lights out." Monday night was the OUTRAGEOUS Olympics which was
a series of 10 wacky athletic stunts. Tuesday was Family Feud
trivia night and Wednesday was a dance and karaoke night. The
evening activities allowed the group to bond with other kids
from different backgrounds and parts of the state. It was an
important part of the trip as we learned more about other
communities and even a bit about ourselves. We plan on meeting
up with some of the students from other communities and showing
them what Hopkinton is all about!
OUR FUTURE PLANS:
The group has decided to get together throughout the summer to
further discuss their plan of action. We are really pumped about
it! Renée Cammarata will serve as facilitator to see that we are
able to carry this out to completion. We are also going to be
working closely with our community coalition.
CLOSING THOUGHTS FROM THE PROJECT DIRECTOR, RENÉE CAMMARATA:
“There was a great deal of personal growth that was apparent
during this session. For some, it was that they were speaking
more confidently in front of groups, for others it was
a perspective-broadening discussion about how other communities
differ from Hopkinton. Aaron, Tim, Greg, Miguel, Allie,
Christina, Lauren, and Maggie all contributed so much to each
other and were very open to meeting and working with other
teams! It was quite an opportunity for me to witness their
excitement and growth. We have a huge asset in these eight
youth. Their leadership skills grew tremendously and they are
ready to take action here in Hopkinton."
For more information about the project, please visit:
www.befreeproject.org.
