Reporter Notebooks

In Mississippi, the summer of 1963 was a violent one — 30 black homes and 37 black churches were firebombed, and more than 80 civic activists were beaten. The following summer, about 40 Freedom Schools were opened, dedicated to creating "an educational experience for students which will make it possible for them to challenge the myths of our society, to perceive more clearly its realities, and to find alternatives — ultimately new directions for action," in the words of founder Charles Cobb. Though the program floundered through the years, it was reborn in 1992 with the support of the Children's Defense Fund.

Four years ago, Ava Lowery was frustrated. She felt that just speaking out against the war in Iraq wasn't enough and decided to combine her love of video, journalism and politics and start a Web site, www.peacetakescourage.com.

Peter Christensen, 17, and his brother Alex, 14, are from Escalante, Utah, a town of 818, according to the last census. While the boys enjoy outdoors activities such as fishing and hiking, they are both officers in the Garfield County Teen Age Republicans, a local chapter of the national TARs program.

Dedicating hours to student voter registration, promoting youth involvement in politics, and all the while campaigning for John Parker for Montana attorney general and for herself as a precinct committeewoman, Caitie Boland is the epitome of youth political activism.

Despite living in Michigan's remote Upper Peninsula, Pryce Hadley has been able to maintain a high level of political activism. At Marquette Senior High School, from which he just graduated, he participated in "We the People," a nationwide competition in which students answer questions about U.S. government posed by government experts.

Molly Kawahata takes the term "campaign worker" to a whole new level. The high school senior rearranged her school schedule to have an earlier release in order to have more time to work as the national high school director for Sen. Barack Obama's presidential campaign.

Anyone who knew Heidi Bentley wouldn’t have guessed that she could play a significant role in a campaign to elect Tom Parker to the Alabama Supreme Court. Even the twins, Alex and Brett Harris, who delegated the tasks to her didn’t know exactly who Heidi was. They thought she was her 24-year-old sister.

Four years ago, Conor Rogers saw a need for political volunteers and created the New Jersey Teenage Republican Organization (www.njtars.org) to mobilize young people. Though it started out as a school club, it expanded to serve the county and then the state.

Jennifer Jones has been politically active since she was a high school freshman. Since then, she has worked passionately for the Democratic Party. She sees no problem with continuing her activism after high school, as she will be attending American University in Washington, D.C., in the fall.

Rachel Briggs is a youth volunteer for the Obama campaign in Honolulu, HI. Organizing supporters’ contact information, working at fund-raising events, and starting a student chapter in her district are some of Rachel’s accomplishments.

Jack Boeglin has been following Barack Obama since his speech at the Democratic National Convention in 2004. After doing some research, he decided to start a chapter of Students For Barack Obama at his high school.

It took a while, but the Blunt Youth Radio Project has helped Gavin Bauer find his voice.

Upon graduating from Coronado High School, Shaina Soloman will have more notches on her political belt than many adults. A highly motivated Democrat, Shaina has started a Young Democrats chapter, served as a caucus delegate, volunteered for numerous campaigns and is completing a paid internship with the state Democratic Party.

Megan Waggoner’s first love is the environment. She is active in Alaska Youth for Environmental Action and traveled to Washington, D.C., last year to attend the President’s Environmental Youth Awards ceremony, which recognized her group for its environmental activism.

Raheel Anwer joined the Mikva Challenge Club at Amundsen High School in Chicago without knowing that it would take him to New Hampshire, standing next to Hillary and Chelsea Clinton.

Nik Ritchie helped start the Ron Paul club at the University of Central Florida. Although John McCain appears headed for the Republican nomination, Ritchie feels that Paul accomplished a lot. “No one knew who he was before he ran for president, and he did very well considering how unknown he was,” he said.

Shoshana Akabas is editor in chief of Political Fire, a political newspaper at Stuyvesant High School, a renowned public school in New York. She hasn’t always been interested in politics — a few years ago, she was pretty apathetic even though both of her older brothers — Tal and Shai Akabas — were editors on the newspaper.

As a teenager, Beth Foster has had an ongoing interest in politics. In 2005, she worked on the governor’s campaign in Virginia, and then in 2006, she helped out in a congressional campaign.

Nic Morden is an officer in the Junior State of America chapter at Central Valley High School in Spokane. JSA is a nationwide, non-profit organization composed of more than 500,000 high school students who are interested in politics and current events.

When David Burstein was in high school, it never occurred to him that politics might be irrelevant to his life. He grew up watching CNN and accompanying his parents in voting booths.