Embrace Change

Ridge Howell is being honored as a Champion of Change for his efforts in 4-H and Future Farmers of America.

Let me start by saying how honored I am to be chosen as a White House Champion of Change. I find it incredible to be recognized for something that I enjoy doing. I believe making a difference starts at home through a willingness to embrace change. While sometimes viewed as negative, change is often a really positive thing. Our future depends on change that will be sparked by the youth of our country, one family, one community, one state, one country at a time. In order to really champion change, American youth need to be encouraged to lead and to serve. My goal is to spark this desire in other youth in my hometown and to spread this desire to create change around the country.

I was first inspired about four years ago after my first Oklahoma State FFA Convention.  The primary theme of the convention was to create positive change in our own communities. I learned that I had the opportunities to impact change if I would just seize those opportunities.   Upon returning from the convention I immediately started planning how I could practice making positive changes in my community. I decided to throw myself into community work; this would provide the best opportunity to champion change. Over the next three years, I became involved in every aspect of the community. I found that there are always new and better ways to do things and began seeking out opportunities to make a difference. The first event that I really had a hand in improving was the annual Senior Citizens’ Prom hosted by the Checotah High School Student Council. This project is exactly what it sounds like, a prom for the senior citizens of my community (and yes they do wear tuxedos and formal dresses, and the lady’s always have their hair done). This was a great way to involve many students in a fun way, and it naturally made me want to come up with more and more community service projects!

I helped orchestrate and work a town wide “trash off day” where my fellow FFA members and I hauled off about nineteen tons of trash and debris that had accumulated following two severe ice storms. One of my longest term community service projects is the Senior Citizens’ Lawn Mowing Program. I helped my agriculture education instructor create this program a little over three years ago. Each week during the summer, my fellow FFA members and I go to the local senior citizens’ center and draw two names. These two individuals are the recipients of a free lawn mowing service and sometimes other types of assistance around their homes. The best part of this program is the time spent with these elderly citizens, listening to the stories they tell while we are working. I have learned so many valuable life lessons from their knowledge and wisdom, beyond what I could ever learn in a classroom setting. 

The project I’m most proud of was developed within the last year, following a grant application submitted by my agriculture education teacher. At the end of the 2011-2012 school year, my FFA chapter was selected for a National FFA “Food for All” grant. This grant gave my FFA chapter $2,500 dollars to plant a community garden. As the incoming chapter FFA president, I was able to help build this program from the ground up. To date we have picked over 1,680 pounds of produce including vegetables such as  squash, zucchini, tomatoes, green beans, jalapeno peppers, and eggplant. Through many hours of hard work the garden is still producing today. The produce is taken to our local senior citizen center and distributed to the citizens there. This is another great chance to gain knowledge and wisdom from the elders of my community and to learn more history about my community and my Native American culture.

I’m so thankful for the honor being bestowed upon me and realize I would have never had this opportunity had it not been for the continual support of my agriculture education teacher, Jason McPeak. This man is an example of community service and inspires me to be a service oriented citizen. If I could leave you with one thought, it would be a quote from Aristotle that says: “We are what we repeatedly do. Excellence, then, is not an act, but a habit.” 

Ridge Howell is a high school senior in Checotah, Oklahoma.

Improving Education for American Indians and Alaska Natives

Today, the Obama Administration announced nearly $2 million in competitive grants to Tribal Education Agencies (TEAs) under the State-Tribal Education Partnership – or STEP – program.  During the Department of Education’s 2010 regional tribal consultations, tribal officials consistently expressed concerns about the lack of opportunities for Tribes to meaningfully participate in the education of their own children. The STEP Program is, in part, a response to those concerns, and provides funding intended to elevate the role of Tribal Education Agencies in providing a complete and competitive education to Native American students – in tribal schools as well as in public schools. 

Under the STEP Program, for the first time ever, the Department is  awarding competitive grants to foster greater involvement of Tribal Education Agencies in the education of American Indian and Alaska Native  (AI/AN) students attending public schools. The great majority, some 92 percent, of American Indian and Alaska Native students attend public schools that fall under the jurisdiction of pertinent State and local educational authorities. The STEP Program will provide several Tribes with opportunities to meaningfully participate in the education of their children through increased formal collaboration with States. 

The Untold Story About the U.S.-Mexico Border

Ed. note: This is cross-posted from the International Trade Administration Blog.

Assistant Secretary for Market Access and Compliance Michael Camuñez delivers remarks during “Realizing the Economic Strength of Our 21st Century Border: Trade, Education, and Jobs” (Photo Tim Trumble)

Violence. Narco-trafficking. Illegal Immigration. A place of great insecurity. Listen to the national media and these are the images they would have you believe define and characterize the U.S.-Mexico Border. It’s true, Mexico is confronting serious security challenges and is working hard to tackle them, making progress each day in part with the assistance of the United States. But the benefits derived from scale and magnitude of our economic partnership with Mexico—still one of the best performing and fastest growing economies in the G20 and OECD—literally dwarf those challenges. And that’s a story that’s well worth remembering.

That’s why earlier this week in Tempe, Arizona, I convened and, together with Arizona State University’s Center for Trans-border Studies, co-hosted a bi-national conference focused on the commercial importance of the border region. The conference, entitled “Realizing the Economic Strength of Our 21st Century Border: Trade, Education, and Jobs,” brought together a diverse and distinguished group of leaders from academia, the private and public sector leaders, and members of civil society from throughout the border region. Our goal was two-fold: to identify and share strategies that will promote economic growth and job creation through increased trade; and to raise awareness and build consensus concerning the economic contribution of the border region to the U.S. and Mexican economies. In short, the conference was about changing the narrative about the U.S.-Mexico border by telling the full story about how and why the border region is a key driver of our global competitiveness and shared prosperity. As evidenced in a recent Arizona Republic editorial highlighting the conference, our efforts are already paying off.

I’ve previously written extensively about how the border region is vital to the U.S.-Mexico commercial relationship, which is one of the most dynamic economic partnerships in the world. In 2011, two way trade in goods and services between the U.S. and Mexico exceeded a staggering half trillion dollars. U.S. exports to Mexico totaled close to $200 billion, exceeding our exports to Brazil, Russia, India and China combined! According to the U.S. Chamber of Commerce, approximately 6 million U.S. jobs depend on trade with our southern neighbor. Six million jobs!

And what happens on the border doesn’t solely affect border towns and border states. More than 20 U.S. states count Mexico as their first or second largest export market, and 28 states did more than $1 billion in trade with Mexico in 2011.

Manufacturers in Michigan, Indiana, Ohio, Illinois and throughout America depend on integrated U.S.-Mexico supply chains to bring components, supplies and finished goods back and forth across the border every day, sustaining millions of jobs in factories around the country. And this doesn’t even get to the nearly 13.5 million Mexican tourists who traveled to the U.S. in 2011 and spent $9.2 billion supporting the U.S. economy.

Given the importance of this powerful relationship, the Obama Administration launched the Border Export Strategy to highlight the significance of the U.S.-Mexico trade relationship and, more specifically, the vibrant, diverse, and talented communities that make up the border region. This week’s conference, which was attended by more than 250 leaders from both countries, is a key element of that strategy, which in turn supports the President’s National Export Initiative, the aim of which is to double U.S. exports by the end of 2014.

The conference also advanced the 2010 joint declaration by Presidents Obama and Calderon on 21st Century Border Management, which is designed to enhance economic competitiveness while augmenting our nation’s security and public safety by supporting a bilateral border master plan process for infrastructure projects in order to increase capacity; expand trusted traveler and shipper programs; and explore opportunities for pre-clearance, pre-inspection, and pre-screening processes for commercial goods and travelers.

The conference agenda was packed with substantive discussions and industry-focused breakout panels; it also included important fora where U.S. and Mexican border mayors, members of congress, governors and industry leaders came together to talk about how the border economy is driving growth throughout the region. As co-host, I delivered a keynote address and helped facilitate a discussion concerning the Obama Administration’s 21st Century Border Management Initiative with counterparts from Mexico, Customs and Border Patrol, and the State Department. We also had a chance to hear from representatives of Mexican President-Elect Peña-Nieto, who shared the incoming administration’s vision for the region.

My primary message at the conference was to convey that President Obama and his administration understand the value of border trade and the contributions that border communities make each and every day to our national wellbeing. I also emphasized that the United States and Mexico, together with Canada to the north, comprise one of the most competitive regional platforms in the world. With our open borders, low tariffs, strong protections for intellectual property, low energy costs, integrated supply chains, and, most importantly, our skilled work force, our nations are working cooperatively to bring jobs back from remote shores, which is one reason why, for the first time in a decade, U.S. manufacturing job growth is again on the rise. The border truly is a source of strength for both countries, and it is a region that merits investment, support and serious attention from Washington. I’m proud that the Obama Administration is telling that story.

Michael Camuñez is the Assistant Secretary of Commerce for Market Access and Compliance