Running as a contestant for Miss Coon Rapids, I was unaware of the alarming number of homeless youth that are living in Anoka-Hennepin County. For the 2012-2013 school year, 721 students were identified as homeless. At my first appearance, I was introduced to Hope 4 Youth and the work that they are doing to eliminate homelessness in the community. I am thankful to be an additional voice and advocate about this issue. John Sitarz was kind enough to stay late and give us a tour of the drop-in center and share the day to day routine that they have. It was incredible to see how far they have come since they started Hope 4 Youth but they aren't stopping there! The organization made up of caring community members has big plans to provide more services and options to the youth of Anoka county, as well as a long term goal of giving homelessness the boot within the next 10 years. I am looking forward to working more with them as they prepare for their summer fundraiser on July 19th.
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I was invited to be a guest and speaker at the Lion's dinner meeting. Although I know many of the members and have had many opportunities to get to know them at community events, this meeting was a great chance for me to share a bit about my platform, why I chose to be an advocate for volunteering and community service, and what my goals are within my platform. Since the Lions are a service club, they are really no stranger to selflessly giving back to the community. Even though my platform aims to encourage all individuals to be better citizens within their communities, I really focus on the need to involve our youth early on. As a club, I encouraged them to reach out to the younger people in their lives and involve them in activities or causes that they are involved in. I say the more giving people, the stronger the community!
John Roberts is not only one of the sponsors for the Miss Coon Rapids Scholarship Program but they were also the specific sponsor that was assigned to me during the pageant. I wanted to thank them for their sponsorship and support of the pageant so I headed over there this past Wednesday to meet Bobby Keene. They were so excited to have me there and I was given a tour of their factory. The world of printing is actually quite fascinating and I was shocked to see the wide variety of jobs that they do. It was a pleasure to be a guest at their company and meet so many of the wonderful employees that work there. Thank you again to John Roberts Company for their "lucky" contribution to our program! :) I was invited to join one of my best friends in her classroom to share all about the Miss America Organization. I had the opportunity to speak with two 6th grade classes and one 5th grade class during their social studies time. Miss Lymburner and I were able to bring insight about an organization that many of the students had no idea about. Lisa has been one of my biggest supporters on this journey and she allowed me to share all about myself, my platform, my talent and what this organization has brought to me over the years. I have seen so much of myself grow to reflect and embody what MAO stands for and it was really cool to have the opportunity to teach a new generation about the importance of service and scholarship. I allowed the students to ask questions and I was amazed at the great questions they asked me. They addressed things that I hadn't thought to include as well as some intriguing questions that really made me think! What a wonderful way to continue my preparation for Miss MN! A huge thank you again to Lisa Lymburner for a great day! Today was my last North Star Lions waffle breakfast as Miss Coon Rapids/ "The Waffle Princess" as I am often referred to. It was very sad as this has become one of my most favorite activities to participate in. I was able to enjoy one of the world's best waffles when I first got there. This dialed my sausage link intake down to five, which is quite an accomplishment in itself. As always, I had the best time with the Lions and enjoyed the usual waffle making routine with Ted Schmalke. He never fails to keep me laughing and has dubbed himself the "waffle king" to rival the many titles I am given during these events. I look forward to the many summer events that are beginning to take place with the North Star Lions! Springfest Talent Show Since I grew up as a competitive figure skater and now I am a pageant competitor, I am no stranger to the world of performing for judges. However, since I am usually the one in the hot seat, I have never been presented the opportunity of judging an event. It was one of the coolest experiences and it really is much harder than most credit it to be. I was one of three judges for the Springfest talent show. We judged about 20 performers in the age categories of 3-12 and 13+. Everyone did a stellar job and it was difficult to narrow the performances to a 1st, 2nd and 3rd place for each group. Coon Rapids has some incredible young talent in their community and the future looks bright for the Miss Coon Rapids Scholarship Program! Being a girly-girl myself, I was excited by the variety of activities that the children were able to do at the party. I lost count for how many adorable princesses and princes came but there were upwards to 100 that stopped in to visit and take part in the fun! What a wonderful turnout from the community! The party was hosted at Epiphany and was part of Springfest. Children could stop in and decorate cookies, color, paint nails, listen to stories, make crowns and sashes and have their face painted. Brianna and I are just little girls at heart and we had a blast joining in on the fun! We concluded the party with a royal procession to the senior center to deliver cookies and make a round around the other Springfest events. What a wonderful day! Coon Rapids Fire Department Brianna and I are lucky to truly have the support of Coon Rapids during our year. The Fire Department has been wonderful in allowing us to take part in events alongside them. Since the day was so lovely, Bri and I stopped over to say hi and finally take our picture with the 9/11 memorial that they have on display. The piece of metal featured in the tribute is from Ground Zero. With the recent completion of the 9/11 memorial, Brianna and I were honored to pay our respects to the amazing remembrance that is present for all to enjoy in the community of Coon Rapids. The Miss Coon Rapids committee has been an unexpected blessing in my journey with the Miss America Organization. I am so glad to have all of their support, encouragement and laughter during my last year with the program. We have had some incredible times together and I love them so much! I was so thankful for the lovely send off that they gave me as I finish my final weeks of preparation for Miss Minnesota. As usual the city of Coon Rapids was present to support me. :) Being a future teacher, I am learning the power of influence that I have in the young lives of my students as well as the best ways to get through to them. My platform is entitled "Promoting Volunteerism and Community Service" and although I aim to reach all ages of people, my focus always seems to fall with the younger generation. Teaching life lessons to my students has been one of the most rewarding aspects of being in the classroom. My dear friend, Katie Jenson, was a student teacher in the 1st grade at a private school this past semester. She gave me the opportunity to come and meet her class and talk about my platform. I read the students one of my favorite books, Bucket Filling From A to Z, and we talked about the community projects that they have done as a class, as well as a school. I was beyond impressed with the knowledge and action these students already put into their community. The class and I discussed how and why we choose the projects or organizations that we devote our service to, as well as the idea that our passion or desire to serve new causes may change as we get older, grow as individuals and meet new people with different circumstances. We also talked about the things that we could do to fill the buckets of members of our school/classroom community. It is important to let students know that everyone around them is part of their community and their actions, big or small, are important to the world. My visit reinforced that no age is too young to become an active citizen in the community! |
AuthorLeah Mau Archives
September 2020
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