Shameless Self Promotion - Vote for my son please

[EndOfOrdinary]

I hope this isn't violating some form of forum rule; that isn't my intention. If you feel so inclined would you please click over and vote for my son. It is free, doesn't require any logging in, and no email address collection. Just a check box and submit.

 

My Ds has been nominated for the Tod J. LeFevre Sustainability Awards for his work in climate change and his attempts to create a non-profit mobilizing kids to feel empowered to voice their opinions on sustainability. More than anything he sees that kids are being kept out of the discussion, but it is their future. Regardless of what their opinion is, he merely wants kids to know they have the right to speak and be heard. There is a blurb describing some of that work though they got his age wrong (he's nine).

 

ETA: Last name Dahlquist. Voting closes on Monday.

 

Again thanks, and if this a misuse of the forum or bothersome to anyone, I will take it down. He asked me to throw it up on the forums because "they are homeschoolers, so they will help!"

 

http://gorgeowned.org/programs/gorge-earth-day/tod-lefevre-sustainability-awards/

[fourisenough]

I voted. Good luck to him!

[EndOfOrdinary]

Thanks!  We are keeping our fingers crossed.  We find out on Earth Day evening.

[Kerileanne99]

I never vote for things 'just because' but I loved your recent post in the accelerated board, so I made it a point to vote for him:)

 

Can you link that video here so others can see just what an amazing kid he is?! I really think it is inspiring, and think it will make people WANT to vote for him:)

Regardless, I love what your family has done and find the support your family offers him inspiring...

[lewelma]

I agree. Link to the video.  He's amazing!

[EndOfOrdinary]

Here is the video they are talking about.  My son is working with local videographers and non profits to produce events where kids and youth are given a voice in the Climate Change movement.  He is in the process of creating a web forum and YouTube feed for youth.  This was the first event he organized and MCed.

His entire speech can be seen here:

 

https://drive.google.com/file/d/0B8TCjyxcC6-jdFFaN0Uwbms0WTg/edit?usp=sharing

 

 

ETA: My son is the first person to speak, and then the last one as well.

[TammyB]

Voted for him. 😀

[foxbridgeacademy]

Voted, good luck!

[nansk]

Just voted. He is an amazing boy. All the best!

[quark]

What a cool kiddo he is! Voted! Good luck.

[Mukmuk]

Voted. Awesome kiddo!! 

[Eagle]

Wow! He is such a wonderful speaker. He has my vote!

[Gil]

We voted for him. Buddy asked how do you pronounce his name: Day? Dee?

I'm sorry, my boys have some questions for him:

Did he feel nervous speaking in front of the crowd? If so, how did he practice to feel more confident?

Did he write his whole speech all by himself? (Pal wants to know if he hand wrote it also?)

Does he do good speaking to people in other situations? ( I think they mean does he feel intimidated when conversing with adults?)

What is he saying at 5:00 when he says: "Hear me ????? and other kids..."

[EndOfOrdinary]

We voted for him. Buddy asked how do you pronounce his name: Day? Dee?

I'm sorry, my boys have some questions for him:

Did he feel nervous speaking in front of the crowd? If so, how did he practice to feel more confident?

Did he write his whole speech all by himself? (Pal wants to know if he hand wrote it also?)

Does he do good speaking to people in other situations? ( I think they mean does he feel intimidated when conversing with adults?)

What is he saying at 5:00 when he says: "Hear me ????? and other kids..."

 

No worries about questions.  He's a bit used to questions by now :).

His name is pronounced Day-u-thin.  Basically it is a really old name that has a derivation in many ancient languages (Hebrew, Latin, Celtic, Gaelic, Aramaic, etc).  Mostly my son goes by "Dae" because everyone can say it. It means to be the light in Celtic and is where they believe we got the word for "Day."

 

The range of nervousness flows through our family.  Dad becomes nervous a week out.  I become nervous about 4 days out.  Dae becomes nervous the day before the event, and then magically somehow gets more and more Zen as time ticks down to speaking.  He honestly loves to speak.  It is really his calling.

 

I practice with him by just having him go through and read the speech.  He then underlines any places he wants emphasis.  We run through it together about eight times throughout about two days.  Depending on the area he is going to speak in, we go through walking and movements to block the speech so he can interact well with a crowd.  In instances where he is at a podium that doesn't matter much.  Then Dad takes over.  Dad tapes him the iPad and they watch it together talking about it.  They tape it a good six or seven times, so Dae can see himself and tweak it.  This is where the confidence comes from, I think.  He has it down flat cold by the time he has to stand.  Most of it he can recite from memory, so then if he blanks, he has the speech in front of him.

 

He writes all his own speeches; all by himself. We have listened to lots of famous speeches on YouTube (MLK, Gandhi, Kennedy at CapeTown, Obama, Mandela, etc) and read lots of our founding fathers.  He does not have to read handwritten speeches.  (His handwriting is still a bit too atrocious for that!)  We tried it once, and since then I just retype whatever he has written.  Then it is changed in to Arial Black font and sized to 14 pt.  We print it at the library the next day.  At that point, he scribbles all over it to show him his auditory cues of when to build emphasis.

 

Interacting with adults doesn't make him all that nervous.  Though, compliments do.  When he was younger we attended a church very focused on Social Justice.  He began speaking during services at 5.  He was nervous then, but it was his choice.  Our pastor became his rhetoric mentor and they have worked together ever since.  His first rally speech was 2 years ago and Federal testimony began shortly after that.  Some of the crowds for federal testimony have been over 1000 people and a timer right in your face ticking down the 2 minute limit.  It rattles me.  It was very trial by fire.  For the last two years he has traveled through the region speaking with reporters, elected officials, various community organizers, etc. He does his own pitches to non-profit sponsors, and has a grant writing mentor, a videography mentor, and a community organizing mentor all of whom he personally petitioned to help him pro-bono.  All of those people are adults.  Most of the people he works with are adults because the mayors, Sierra Club, and other NGO's he works with are all young adults.  He is extroverted, and tends to take this in stride.  I get a bit overwhelmed.  His first grant proposal required him schmoozing with a room of adults and it was disastrous.

 

Over the phone he has trouble.  We are working on that now.  He needs to be able to see the person to not get nervous, but now he is networking nationally and that means phone calls.  If he has no idea who the adult is who has decided to begin asking him rather personal questions, then stranger-danger kicks in.  If Dad or I are there, it quickly passes, but he is getting to the point he is networking himself at rallies and testimony and sometimes we will be a short distance away.  Those situations still throw him.  He doesn't quite understand the level of disclosure that is appropriate.

 

At 5:00 me is announcing the name of the next person who is going to speak.  It was a people's hearing in an open forum downtown which focused on kids being able to speak out about the exportation of coal.  That was the name of the first girl who was going to speak. 

 

I don't know if that answers all your families questions.  He is more than willing to talk to other kids about what he is doing.  He wants kids to realize that they are granted the rights to speak out through our Constitution and if we do not exercise those rights they are much easier to take away.  His big line is "I might not be able to drive, have money, or vote.  But I have time and a community.  Together with our Constitution that makes me powerful."  He wants other kids to feel powerful to, so he will talk with anyone who wants to listen.

[EndOfOrdinary]

You all are beyond kind!  I'll definitely come back and let everyone know how it went.  Thank you all so much!

[WinsomeCreek]

Voted. :)

[Corraleno]

Wow, what an amazing kid! I'll show this to my kids when they get home; I'm sure they'd love to vote for him as well!

[Jilly]

Voted! What a great kid you have!!

[La Texican]

Voted. You can tell he's very well educated and knows what he's talking about. 😊

[EndOfOrdinary]

He Won! Thank you! Thank you! Thank You! To everyone who voted, our family offers their gratitude. He could not have done it without you. This community is so supportive of kids and their individual paths to education!

 

In his acceptance speech last night he announced his latest project as well. In September (with the new school year) he will be undertaking a year of no waste. No purchasing anything new and no trash. He wants to begin soliciting other kids and families to join him for two weeks, a month, the whole year, whatever! It is an attempt to call attention to the garbage patches off our coasts and the massive amounts of trash we produce every year unnecessarily. Recycling, growing our own, mending, getting creative, and just plain doing without instead of consuming. He is trying to get the local municipalities to ban single use plastic bags at the end of his year if he is successful.

 

It would have been nice if he had warned me first, but the goal is noble.

 

For more info on such issues, take a look at Chris Jordan's amazing art! http://www.chrisjordan.com/gallery/rtn/#silent-spring

 

And the movie The Clean Bin Project. http://cleanbinproject.com/theproject/

 

Thank you all again!

[Corraleno]

:party:

 

I'm so happy for him — he's an extraordinary young man!

[Gil]

He Won! Thank you! Thank you! Thank You! To everyone who voted, our family offers their gratitude. He could not have done it without you. This community is so supportive of kids and their individual paths to education!

 

In his acceptance speech last night he announced his latest project as well. In September (with the new school year) he will be undertaking a year of no waste. No purchasing anything new and no trash. He wants to begin soliciting other kids and families to join him for two weeks, a month, the whole year, whatever! It is an attempt to call attention to the garbage patches off our coasts and the massive amounts of trash we produce every year unnecessarily. Recycling, growing our own, mending, getting creative, and just plain doing without instead of consuming. He is trying to get the local municipalities to ban single use plastic bags at the end of his year if he is successful.

Two points of feedback--1) My boys are saying they want to try the no waste thing. I say I wan't know what about toilet paper and other disposable sanitation products?

2) Congratulations to you Dae! You did well.

It would have been nice if he had warned me first, but the goal is noble.

 

For more info on such issues, take a look at Chris Jordan's amazing art! http://www.chrisjordan.com/gallery/rtn/#silent-spring

 

And the movie The Clean Bin Project. http://cleanbinproject.com/theproject/

 

Thank you all again!

 

[quark]

Yay! So well deserved. Really, really well done. Please tell him congratulations from us. :hurray: :hurray: :hurray:

[EndOfOrdinary]

 

Well, unless you decide to put your toilet paper in the trash (cannot help your household with that one) it doesn't count. The people who originally did the no waste project kept small trash bins for the inevitable bits of trash that happen over a year. At the end they weighed their trash. So no waste is probably a bad name. It is more conscious waste. Their are female sanitation products that produce no waste. Baby stuff is a little harder, since babies tend to leak from just about every orifice and be just a bit on the totally gross side.

 

Anything that can be recycled, reused, reworked into something you would use, whatever, doesn't count. Just items that go to a landfill. I can tell you right now Dh is not going to give up his tobacco for darn near any reason! To him this is justifiable waste (though I do not know if he is conscious of just how much it really is). The idea is to just become aware.

 

That is pretty awesome that they want to try it! We are going to pitch the idea to a local non profit and see if they are willing to set up a website for people to report into with any fun stuff or ideas about their no waste projects. I'll let you know how it goes and they can post to the blog or something if they want. It is also. Pretty awesome that you would even consider it. Nice going, a Dad!

 

I know I need till September to figure out logistically how I am going to pull off grocery shopping!

 

ETA: you can get The Clean Bin Project movie on Canadian iTunes for $6.99 if you wanted to watch it so your boys could see more of what it is about. It is a rather interesting look at culture and could be considered social studies even if they decide the idea isn't for them.