| 04/13/2007 |
| Vandalism opponent named Youth of the Year |
| Amanda K. Lowe , Daily Times |
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COVENTRY - A local teen was honored recently for her efforts in
trying to make Coventry a safer and better place to live and to
save the town some money in the process. "That amount of money could buy 300 new computers for the school, four new teachers, and even a fire truck," Therrien said. "I think it is important that the money the town uses to clean up vandalism be put toward a better use." Students Against Vandalism Environment began in October of last year. "My school team went on a field trip to clean Knotty Oak Cemetery," Therrien said. "We saw that a lot of the gravestones were vandalized and that really upset me. The experience drove me to want to do something about the issue of vandalism." After the trip to the cemetery, Therrien contacted Charles Blanchette, a teacher at Knotty Oak Middle School. "I called Mr. Blanchette and asked him if there was anything we could do about the issue," Therrien said. "I told him that I was passionate about it and he said that if I could find a group of dedicated people we could form a public service group. I found three other people and from there it grew." The group evolved into what is now known as SAVE and is run by 23 middle school students along with two teacher advisers - Blanchette and Anthony Ferro. "Our mission is to stop vandalism and crime and ultimately make the world a better place," SAVE's Web site states. "We've worked hard to spread this message to all people and hope that our actions will be [e]ffective." SAVE is part of a larger organization called the Rhode Island Third Eye division of Youth Crime Watch of America, Blanchette said. SAVE members participated in the National Youth Crime Prevention Conference in Denver at the end of March and spoke about their ongoing efforts to combat vandalism at their school and in their community. At the conference, Therrien received the Youth of the Year Award. "The award is given to a youth that has made an outstanding contribution to crime prevention in their school or community," said John Mattson, director of Youth Crime Watch in New England. "All students who are involved in active Youth Crime Watch sites are eligible to be nominated for the award." Blanchette said he nominated Therrien for her hard work and dedication in forming SAVE. "I submitted her name in January," Blanchette said. "She was in big company as Youth Crime Watch is represented by 30 states and 16 foreign countries. I thought she deserved the award because of her initial hard work in launching the program. It was because of her the group even started, and, once it was started, she was very active in expanding it." According to Mattson, thousands of students were nominated for the award. "I think it is fantastic that a Rhode Island student has been given the award," Mattson said. "Given that we have only been actively developing the program for the past two years, Rhode Island won Youth of the Year, State Organization of the Year, and Expansion Center of the Year. Taylor's award was the most impressive and most surprising. I think it was her sense of duty and innovation that helped her stand above the other applicants. I was also very impressed by the workshop that all the students from Knotty Oak presented at the conference about their program. They were all winners to me." "Taylor is a leader in her school and for her community and she motivated others to follow in her footsteps," he continued. "We need all of our Youth Crime Watch participants to be our ambassadors, representing the positive forces that youth energy and innovation can bring to our communities." Therrien also said she was very pleased with the award. "When they called my name for the award, I was shocked and I was so happy," she said. "All I want to do is let people know that vandalism is wrong." The member's of SAVE work together to create signs that inform people about the cost of vandalism. They are currently working on getting permission from the town to put signs on local telephone poles. "What is really amazing is how much power kids really have and what a powerful asset and resource they can be to the community," Blanchette said. "The kids in SAVE are trying to let people know exactly how much money vandalism costs the town and what valuable things can be purchased with that money. These kids start walking the walk and other people get right in line with them. I was very pleasantly stunned that Taylor received the award. I was so pleased for it. It is great to know that what we are doing here in little Coventry, Rhode Island, is being recognized nationally and beyond."
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