Champions of the 70

All of the Miss Teen titleholders that I have met have always been pretty well-grounded in reality.

Which is why I’m always so happy to use my title to promote Reality Check.

Blog frequenters might remember that Reality Check is a youth-led organization of the New York Tobacco Control Program. Reality Check Youth try to educate teens and the public about the hazards of tobacco, and the dangerous influence of Big Tobacco companies. My work with Reality Check is what first got me involved with other aspects of the Tobacco Control Program, including those legislative visits and the “Stop Targeting Kids” panel discussion as of late.

Today, March 23rd, I was able to support others in New York who are fighting Big Tobacco.

Back in February, I was put in touch with Laura Waterhouse, a Reality Check coordinator in Albany. She invited me to be a part of an awards ceremony they were calling “Champions of the 70”. The “70” refers to the 70 New Yorkers who die each day from a tobacco related illness. Their “champions” are the political leaders who support tobacco-control programs and legislation.

So this morning, Dad and I made the 4 and a half hour drive to Albany. I may have had to wake up at 4:30 am on a Tuesday, but the day’s events would definitely prove to be worth it.

Around 11, we made it to the West Capital Park, right outside of the Capitol Building. It was a beautiful location for the ceremony/rally, what with the Capitol hovering above us. It would have been even more beautiful had it not been New York in March. It didn’t snow (Thank goodness.), but the wind and rain froze my toes halfway through the ceremony! I’m glad I received the proper training for this sort of outdoor event while in St. Paul, Minnesota last January. After Minnesota in January, you can pretty much handle anything.

At the park, I met Laura for the first time, along with the six other Reality Check representatives who would be presenting awards alongside me onstage. Shannon, Natalie, Aymee, Amanda, Ashley, and Liv were all such wonderfully dedicated girls. I was particularly impressed by Liv Clandorf, whose work with Reality Check has taken her all the way to Mumbai, India (twice!) and allowed her to be named the International Youth Advocate of the Year by the Campaign for Tobacco-Free Kids. (In a moment of “what-a-small-world-ness”, Amyee Morrison, who stood next to me for the entire ceremony, told me that she is very good friends with Katie Ball…my first runner-up at Miss Teen of New York! I hope to see both girls at Miss Teen of New York this summer! To request more information on all of our summer programs, register here.)

After a quick run-through of the ceremony, it was soon time to get everything rolling! Despite the already mentioned unfortunate weather, the park was still pretty filled with Reality Check Youth from across the state, as well as Albany officials. I’ve been working with Reality Check for 3 years, but I have never seen so many RC volunteers in one area. To go along with the theme of “70”, RC volunteers wore tie-dyed shirts and the loudspeakers played disco music. All teens in attendance were so enthusiastic, and I was just so proud of my fellow RC members.

Various clips from the ceremony can be viewed below.

(If it looks like I'm pausing, or drawing out words at all, it's because I was shivering.)




Of the six leaders being congratulated on being “Champions of the 70”, I presented the award to Assemblyman Sam Hoyt. I’ve seen Assemblyman Hoyt speak at a number of Erie-Niagara Tobacco-Free Coalition events in the past, but this was the first time I got to formally meet him. Other leaders honored included Senator Leibell, Assemblywoman Galef, Mayor King of Gloversville, and the New York Attorney General's Office.The ceremony ended with a very fitting playing of “We Are the Champions”.

We then headed across the street to have lunch at the Legislative Building. Being the politics-nerd that I am, I was pretty excited to be at the office building for all of the New York Assembly members. Following lunch, I went around with other Reality Check members to hand out Reality Check information packets to various offices. Everyone seemed to recognize our tie-dye shirts from the ceremony earlier, and they were very happy to hear about the work we were doing.

I may have lived in New York all of my life, but I had never been to the capitol before today! I was actually pretty shocked at what a beautiful city it was. Since it was a first-time visit for me and my dad, Laura and Liv agreed to accompany us on a tour of the Capitol Building. The building, both its exterior and interior, is overwhelming. People outside of New York will be surprised to learn that the New York State Capitol Building cost twice as much to build as the United States Capitol Building. (New Yorkers will have no difficulty believing this.) Built from 1867 to 1899, it’s a blend of Romanesque and Gothic architecture, and it really is beautiful.

Following the tour, we bid farewell to Laura and Liv, and began our journey back home.

To get your own reality check, visit Reality Check's website.

Pembroke Pink Dragons

A few weeks ago, I sent out 19 inquiry letters to schools across Western New York. A week later, I received an email from Ms. Carrie Schober about possibly speaking at Pembroke Elementary School. She offered to have me speak in front of the whole school, but also mentioned a club that she advises for 5th and 6th grade girls. Their name: the Pink Dragons. (Because, of course, Pembroke’s mascot is a dragon. The girls don’t breathe fire or anything.)

I jumped at the opportunity! This was exactly the type of group I had been hoping to speak to. The club focuses on girl empowerment through the use of discussions, lessons, and crafts, in the hopes that some of the drama and bullying in the school will be diminished. As Ms. Schober described it in one of her emails to me, “Our club was created to address the social, emotional, and communication needs that we believe pre-teens experience. The girls participate in crafting, cooking, healthy communication, and decision-making among many other things.”

How cool is that? When I first met Ms. Schober as we set up for the speech on Friday, March 12th, she filled me in on how much the girls love the club. They snack and craft and just have a whole lot of fun. She herself was sporting a tie-dye T-shirt that all the girls made. Lately, even some boys have been begging to get in, to no avail.

Don’t you wish your school had this club when you were in middle school or junior high?

I was so excited to meet with these girls, because I still remember how absolutely terrible middle school was. I’m pretty sure they were the most pitiful, depressing three years of my entire education. (No offense to my WONDERFUL middle school teachers. Mrs. Tryka, Mrs. Tedeschi, Mr. Robinson, etc: It wasn’t your fault. You tried your best, but there’s only so much you can do.) Your emotions are constantly changing. You’re constantly changing. You have more school work and more expectations than ever before. You’re judged on everything, and you deeply care about people’s opinions of you. Girls are terrible to each other, and you’re terrible right back. I broke up a lot of good friendships during middle school, and I remember coming home in tears more than once. In sixth grade, I slapped my friend Liz across the face because she got a 99 on a clay plate art project, and I only got a 98. (No, really. I couldn’t possibly make that up. But it’s okay, because we’re still friends.)

Thank God that’s over.

But it’s not over for the 50 members of the Pink Dragons, and I don’t want them to have that same experience! I want them to have a wonderful, enriching, self-empowering time in 5th and 6th grade. I want them to build up their self-confidence for high school, and have great friendships. I don’t want any girls getting slapped in the face. Which is why I’m so glad to see this club working so effectively. I think every school should have a Pink Dragons Club! (They may want to change the mascot to fit their own school, however.)

When the girls started to filter into the cafeteria, they would get really quiet when they saw me. Ms. Schober told me that she had showed a lot of the girls this blog, and they were really excited to meet me in person. Unfortunately, 15 of the girls couldn’t make it to the meeting due to All-County Band practice. (But good for them! Congrats, girls!)
One band member, Allie, even wrote me a letter to apologize! It was absolutely adorable, and I loved it. Thanks Allie!

Ms. Schober began the meeting with a discussion of role models, asking the girls to split into groups and discuss what qualities comprise good and bad role models. I was amazed at the very astute answers the girls gave. So many girls talked about how their mom is their greatest role model, which lead perfectly into the beginning of my speech. I spoke about some of my role models growing up, including my mom, who first helped me decide to go out for Miss Teen of New York. As I told them about my Miss Teen journeys, I brought up all the new role models I’ve gained from my experiences, between my Miss Teen directors and other titleholders. (So if your ears were ringing that Friday, you now know why!) I had a speech prepared, but I felt so comfortably around the girls that I was able to ad-lib the whole thing. I think it worked out better that way.

After my speech, the girls got to ask me some questions. The questions started off with pretty basic inquiries pertaining to my Miss Teen experiences. Then they got a little more personal, getting to the root of what the club is about. I was asked if I was ever nervous to speak in front of people, or if I was ever bullied. I think the girls were surprised when I said “Yes” to all of those questions. I don’t think the girls expected that I’ve had the same experiences that they’re going through right now. I was very happy to tell them that there is a light at the end of the tunnel, and it will get better.

As I began to pack up, the girls got a chance to check out my scrapbooks that I brought along. I also didn’t make it out the door without posing for pictures on the girls’ cell phone cameras and giving a lot of hugs goodbye.

The Pink Dragons were so awesome. Their energy just uplifted my spirits for the rest of the day. I’m hoping that won’t be the last time I see my Pink Dragons!

"Stop Targeting Kids" Premiere

This has been quite a busy week in Miss Teen news!

On Monday, March 8th, I attended a community screening of the television special “Stop Targeting Kids”. The event was sponsored by the Erie-Niagara Tobacco-Free Coalition.

Frequenters to the blog may remember that last March I spoke at the coalition’s legislative breakfasts and that I’ve going on legislative visits with the head of the coalition, Anthony Billoni. Mr. Billoni thought that I would enjoy the documentary, and that I might be a good addition to the panel discussion that followed.

The premiere was held at Shea’s Smith Theater. All those in attendance watched the show as it premiered live on Buffalo’s local channel 4, WIVB. The documentary was created by Dr. Peter Ostrow, the medical reporter for WIVB. In the special, Dr. Ostrow examines how kids and teens are targeted by Big Tobacco companies through movies and advertising. While I was familiar with the concepts, there were many things I learned that I was unaware of, including all of these new candy-like tobacco products flooding the market and the new role YouTube is playing in tobacco advertising.

After the special finished, the other panelists and I took our places on stage. I felt well out of my league, as the rest of the panel was made up of doctors and politicians. I was the youngest, and least experienced. Even though I was there solely to talk about teen tobacco use and my personal experiences with Reality Check, no one made me feel as if I didn’t belong. They were all very kind and complimentary. The only other girl on stage, and the only person remotely close to my own age, was a grad student from UB who has been studying the tobacco industry’s targeting of teens. She has a whole goody bag full of new tobacco products targeted towards teens that she collected during a cross-country road trip.

I spoke primarily about the efforts of my school’s Peer Wellness Pillar and my work with Reality Check. I also received a question from the audience about what the best method to deal with smoking in schools is.

All in all, the evening was a great success. It really raised my confidence level for my speaking engagement on Friday for the PINK DRAGONS. I could discuss that event hear, but the Pink Dragons really deserve their very own blog. Keep an eye out for that in the very near future!