OPINION: Hope Springs from Local Kids’ Kindness and Service

Last month, two local organizations honored Schuylkill County students for doing what the White House wants to stop: respecting, accepting and learning about people who don’t exactly meet Donald Trump and his Project 2025 allies’ definition of “us.”

Two of the winning contestants in the Schuylkill Chamber of Commerce’s Civics Bee touched on that theme. Unfortunately, our own GOP state Sen. Dave Argall infected this commendable event with a nasty MAGA innuendo, but more on that later.  

Arnold Delin Awards

Meanwhile, 12 high schoolers received awards from the Arnold Delin Educational Fund for promoting diversity, equity and inclusion, even as the Trump crowd tries to convince our country that these are dirty words instead of humanitarian ideals.

Given how Trump has elevated bullying to an art for adults as well as children, it was heartening to hear Nativity BVM junior Brody Sophy described as someone who ‘s not afraid to call out this despicable behavior.   

From the Schuylkill Technology Center, marketing student Danika Jean Samler was instrumental in creating posters aimed at improving acceptance of others, said Health and Safety Coordinator Jennifer Fritz. “When Danika witnessed biased behavior, she took the time to talk to teachers and to the principal to address the issue.”

At Pottsville Area, senior Jayce Powell has been “a mentor and advocate for their fellow students, particularly those who might feel marginalized,” science department lead teacher Adrian Portland said. I was impressed that he showed Powell the courtesy of using their preferred pronouns, but he said most of his colleagues do that for students.

Activities at Pottsville’s Diversity Club have included programs on transgender, sexual assault and disability awareness, Powell said. Members also read books to elementary students on topics such as diversity and various cultures’ holidays.

School of the year

Schuylkill Haven Area senior Brenda Holguin received an award for the second year in a row, and her school took this year’s trophy for carrying out the legacy of the late Arnold Delin, who with his wife, Dolores, championed fairness and equality.

Schuylkill Haven’s Diversity Club, whose goal is to promote empathy and build a sense of community, did something each month, Principal Ty Wartman said. One of its biggest projects, on Valentine’s Day, involved giving everyone in the school a lollipop with a handwritten card with positive and anti-bullying messages.

Other activities included a door-decorating contest with a “Christmas around the world” theme, a screening of the film Hidden Figures during Black History Month and a trip to the U.S. Holocaust Memorial Museum.

The museum also figured in a speech by Dolores Delin, who noted that Trump has fired some of its board members – and is trying to ban diversity, equity and inclusion in schools (and just about everywhere else).

“Piece by piece,” his administration is dismantling our protections against fascism, she said later. “We can’t just stand by. We have to speak up and do whatever we can.”

The Civics Bee

This competition for middle schoolers received a boatload of unwanted attention – it even made the New York Post and Britain’s Daily Mail – after Argall asked North Schuylkill sixth-grader Mary A. whether she thought kindergartners should see pornographic material.

He apologized after the outcry, saying his question wasn’t “age-appropriate.” (Nor was it appropriate for any nonpartisan educational event.)

Mary’s mother told the Pottsville Republican Herald that it wasn’t even relevant to her daughter’s position that banning books, such as those deemed offensive or with LGBTQ+ characters, “violates the founding principles of equality and the civic virtue of respect.” 

Mary didn’t even understand Argall’s question. But after he defined porn as “pictures of naked people,” she said keeping them from young kids isn’t the same as blocking access to books about “other people — people trying to be themselves.”

The question also diverted attention from other contestants’ presentations. First-place winner Aaron K. of Tamaqua Area, for example, said his autistic brother inspired him to want to build inclusive sensory equipment for his  elementary school playground, the Republican Herald reported. 

Mary came in third, so she’ll advance to the state finals in June with Aaron and second-place winner Mihir P. of Saint Ignatius Loyola Regional School, who proposed an outdoor lighting project to improve safety and well-being.

Despite the Trump administration’s chaos and cruelty, these kids and the Delin Award recipients provide some hope that reason and human decency will prevail.

Lisa Von Ahn is an experienced columnist previously published in the Pottsville Republican Herald newspaper.

Canary note: Opinions expressed in any Op-Ed column appearing on this site are the views of the writer and are not necessarily the opinions of Coal Region Canary.

Want to be a columnist with Coal Region Canary? Contact us at newscanary@gmail.com.

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