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October 27, 2010

Maine Voices: Youths' ideas about the Blaine House are worth hearing

A forum being held tonight and broadcast statewide will address issues in the gubernatorial race.

By KATIE ZEMA and BETH YVONNE

BANGOR — Young people often think that because of their age, they cannot have an impact on who ends up in the Blaine House, or on what that person does once elected, but they couldn't be more wrong.

ABOUT THE AUTHORS
Katie Zema is a student at South Portland High School and has been involved in student, local and state politics since her sophomore year. Beth Yvonne is the program director of the Maine Youth Action Network, which works to empower and prepare youth  and adults to partner for change through training, networking and leadership opportunities.

So many issues and policies being talked about, from taxation to education, directly affect the lives of all Mainers, not only the ones old enough to cast their ballots on Tuesday.

And at 7 p.m. today there will be an historic Gubernatorial Forum on Youth Issues, organized by young people from around the state.

It will broadcast live on WABI from the Peakes Auditorium at Bangor High School, and will run on WPXT and WPME in the Portland and Lewiston areas.

It will also be linked to interactive watch sites in over 20 communities in Maine, including one at the University of Southern Maine in Portland. Go to www.preparemaine.org for more details.

The Maine Youth Action Network is excited to support the 2010 Maine Gubernatorial Forum on Youth Issues because we believe that youth are essential partners in creating community change of all types.

We believe that young people have the capacity to be active citizens, involved in the process of defining the most pressing problems in their communities and participating in the creation of effective solutions. The Maine Youth Action Network is a program of the People's Regional Opportunity Program.

One of the strengths of Maine's young people is that they have unique and valuable perspectives on a variety of issues that are critical to the state's future. We are excited that the forum creates an opportunity for young people's perspectives to be heard and for youth to be included in the process of planning and policy making.

The process has also become an experience from which young people can gain skills as active citizens and collaborators in the governance process.

MYAN is proud to be a part of the Maine Gubernatorial Forum on Youth Issues and to support this platform for youth voice!

Maine high school students have gotten to experience the entire process from conception to execution. They are excited because they believe this forum is going to be a great way to reach young people all across the state and encourage them to vote and engage in the election of Maine's next governor.

This forum is a great bipartisan opportunity for Maine's youth to educate themselves on the governor's race and to let their very important voices be heard.

MYAN and the students organizing this debate are also supporting the Prepare Maine Initiative, launched by the Maine Coalition for Excellence in Education. MCEE is the debate's lead sponsor, and they have mobilized young people and business, civic, educational and law enforcement leaders throughout Maine to support quality education, from early childhood development to lifelong learning.

MCEE recognizes that the most important factors in educational reform are engagement by the entire community and long-term commitment to implementation.

There are many research-supported solutions to our educational challenges out there, but we need to bring all of the stakeholders in our educational system together to set priorities, adopt reforms, rigorously evaluate results, and hold ourselves accountable for preparing all of our people for future success.

After the gubernatorial forum, we hope Mainers will follow the example of the remarkable young people who made it happen, and get more engaged in the future of our educational system. It's time for all of us to make education job one.

 

- Special to The Press Herald

 

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