Lenox Student to Speak at Youth Council Inauguration
 Lenox High School senior Daniel Baer will speak at the Governor's Statewide Youth Council Inauguration on Friday. |
As a newly appointed member to the Governor's Statewide Youth Council (along with Mount Everett sophomore Taylor Garrett), Baer has been asked to make a speech at the council inauguration to be held in Boston on Friday. While he did admit to being a little bit nervous, Baer has had lots of practice at public speaking, especially with his school's quiz and mock trial teams. Plus, he said, he's been practicing his speech with his classmates.
Question: Why were you asked to speak at the inauguration? What do you want to say?
Answer: I was asked to speak as someone who could give a testimonial as to why I joined the youth council; what I wanted to get out of it, what I wanted to bring to it. After thinking about it, I know that I want to push for more extracurricular offerings at schools; programs that give kids structure and get them excited. I have friends who don't do too well in the classroom, but they're on the junior fire department, and they're really passionate about what they do, and they’re good at. There's a real future there for them. It's not all about the classroom.
Q: Were you always a political person?
A: No, not at all actually. This past summer I had an internship at the statehouse with [state] Rep. [Jennifer] Benson and something clicked in me. I developed a true appreciation for the democratic process. When she recommended that I apply for the council, I jumped at the opportunity. I was not politically active before this summer. I read the paper in the morning, look at The New York Times online and try to make sense of everything. I realize now that that is me being political. Not a lot of kids are interested in the news. We had a moment of silence at our school for what happened in Arizona and I was shocked that some kids didn't even know who'd been shot.
Q: What should kids your age be doing right now? How should they be involved in the world?
A: Right now we are just trying to figure out our lives. The best thing we can do is educate ourselves in all aspects. Encouraging kids to get that education will lead to a better future overall. I think the greatest concern this country has, the issue we have to tackle, is baseless hatred. If we took care of that there would be the possibility of people listening to each other and there would be a willingness to compromise and not just hate someone for what political party they are.
Q: Is there someone in your life who has inspired you to be involved in the world around you?
A: My grandfather is a federal judge in New York City. When we visit I always talk to him about what cases he's seen. The last time I was there I told him I wanted to go to law school. He took out a stack of applications of people who want a clerkship with him and said, 'Here's what you're competing against.' He just wanted to show me, I think, how hard I'm going to have to work. He could've been a lawyer for life and made a lot of money, but public service was more important to him. Everyone should do this; there are endless ways to help the community as a whole. We're all part of it.
