In stark contrast, Rusch has found the younger generation to be notably empathetic, engaged, energetic, and hopeful. The media portrays this group as selfish, undisciplined, cynical, and apathetic. Kid 'Statue Ambassadors' are raising money for the statue by throwing public parties across the country called Harmony in the Park.Īs a magazine columnist and book author, Elizabeth Rusch has spent years interviewing kids between the ages of 6-18. Jason Dean Crowe, of Newburg, Indiana, inspired by a cello player who braved sniper fire in Bosnia to play his music in the crater of a bombing site, commissioned an international peace and harmony statue. Sol Kelley-Jones, 14, of Madison, Wisconsin, advocates for equal rights for all people by testifying before the state legislature, city council and school board and educating other kids about discrimination through school surveys, presentations, and plays. and Davon King sued Eastpointe, Michigan, to prevent police from unfairly stopping African-American kids riding their bikes through a predominantly white Detroit suburb. Kristel Rose Paçana Fritz convinced dozens of high school kids in San Jose, California, to donate their hair to Locks of Love to make wigs for children with medical hair loss.Ĭharlie King, Jr. Ryan Tripp, 15, of Parowan, Utah, shattered two world records by riding his lawnmower across the country and then mowing the lawns of all 50 state capitols - all to raise awareness of organ donation. Sixth grader Shifra Mincer overcame extreme shyness to volunteer to mend clothing and bags for homeless people in New York City. The sensor is patent pending and could be used in thousands of factories across the country.Īpril Mathews (right), whose family lost their home when she was 10, started a support program with Kerri Stephen for homeless kids called AfterShare Kids. When she was 16, Ann Lai invented a sensor to monitor sulfur dioxide, the most damaging component in acid rain.

Teens Lacy Jones, Kate Klinkerman, and Barbara Brown started Don't Be Crude, an oil-recycling program in rural Texas that has kept more than 30,000 gallons of oil from seeping into the groundwater. He started a group called PlanIt Kids, which tends the garden and harvests fresh fruits and vegetables from U-Pick farms to feed the hungry in Portland, Oregon. Louis.ĭustin Hill, 14, battled cancer while growing an organic garden to feed the hungry.

Zachary Ebers, 14, created Breakfast Bonanza - and collected more than 5,000 boxes of cereal for food pantries in St. Kirsten Wright, 14, of Twin Falls, Idaho, ran a two-day seminar on self-defense to provide girls her age with information and skills they need to protect themselves. Gabriella Contreras, outraged about frequent fights at Tucson High School across the street from her elementary school, organized pickets at lunchtime every day for a year to stop the violence.

High schooler Hannah Jukovsky, concerned that the Massachusetts Comprehensive Assessment System wasted valuable classroom time and distracted from more serious problems in education, risked her diploma to boycott the test. Joshua Marcus, 14, CEO of Sack It To You!, raised a quarter of a million dollars to buy school supplies and backpacks for needy students in Boca Raton, Florida.

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