Making A Difference One Leader At A Time

By Larissa Lytwyn

Kaelyn Eckenrode, a junior at Newtown High School and editor of the school newspaper, the Hawkeye, wants to invite adults who “mislabel adolescents as jaded and disinterested in the politics and future of their nation” to learn about Freedom’s Answer, a youth-founded and operated organization whose mission is to awaken young America’s political conscience.

Kaelyn first became involved with the nonpartisan, nonprofit Freedom’s Answer organization through her participation in a National Youth Leadership Council (NYLC) conference last August. September 11 Generation is a companion group to Freedom’s Answer, serving members through message boards and other means of communication.

Kaelyn was nominated to participate in the NYLC conference because, she said, of her academic merit and standing as well as her interest in politics and involvement in the community. During her 11-day seminar in Washington, D,C,, Kaelyn met scores of like-minded youth, including September 11 Generation founder Zach Clayton.

“Zach was the keynote speaker at the NYLC opening address,” said Kaelyn. She believes Zach’s commitment to raising Americans’ political awareness, particularly among those “not old enough to vote but old enough to lead,” as incorporated in the group’s mission statement, shows youth what immense power they hold.

Current Freedom’s Answer activities include an essay contest with the topic, “If I were President…” The context drew 5,000 entrants nationwide who previously had never heard of Freedom’s Answer. The group also participates in leadership council meetings guided by congressmen and senators in Washington, D.C. An upcoming trip January 25–27 brings the group to participate in a National Press Club forum.

While Kaelyn is not currently involved in any of Freedom’s Answer’s most recent endeavors, she said she is looking forward to boosting voter turnout in the 2004 presidential election. “Since my return to Newtown this fall,” she said, “I have tried to get other [Newtown High School] students involved in Freedom’s Answer through a variety of ways.”

One such way included a recent piece published in the Hawkeye that chronicled her NYLC experience. She networks through fellow members of the Nighthawk marching band and has also participated in Newtown High School’s Planning and Advisory Council, working alongside staff members including Principal William Manfredonia.

After graduating next year from Newtown High School, she hopes to attend the University of Southern California’s Annenberg School of Communications with a double major of broadcast journalism and political science.

“I hope to be a television news anchor on the West Coast and bring voices and news from around the world into the home of every American!” she says.

The biggest lesson her involvement in the NYLC taught her?

“The reality is that we are the bright future of this nation,” she says, “and that we have a definitive voice. If we are given the opportunity the speak, those same adults [who mislabel teens] will be glad they listened!”

For more information on the student groups, visit Freedom’s Answer at www.freedomsanswer.org and the September 11 Generation at www.september11generation.org.