Recently I volunteered to assist Rep. John Lovick and other campaign volunteers to doorbell in his constituent neighborhoods for his third term in the state Legislature. In previous campaigns, there were usually a few teens along (including my son), but something was different this time. More than 50 teens from various high schools in the county, including Jackson and Everett High, showed up at Rep. Lovick’s house to volunteer.
I discovered some interesting things about these teens as we spent the afternoon knocking on doors. They were genuinely interested in what they were doing, didn’t complain that they were just putting in their community service hours, and engaged in interesting dialogue with neighborhood residents as well as myself and each other on issues they thought were important to the upcoming elections. They appreciated the welcomes and thank yous they got from many of the residents and even laughed off the negative remarks from others.
When we returned to Rep. Lovick’s house for a thank you deep-fried turkey barbecue, the majority of the kids spent the rest of the afternoon hanging out on the back lawn, talking with John, making new friends and enjoying themselves.
We do a great job of acknowledging our teens that have received academic accolades or gotten scholarships to major universities. But we also need to be aware of and acknowledge all of the other ways teens get involved in their communities that aren’t often mentioned. Rep. Lovick has had more than 80 teens volunteering this fall in his campaign and I’m sure that number is higher now. What a great lesson in civics. And it can make kids feel good about fulfilling their community service hours.
Diane Gordon
Everett
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