Amy Feldman
Carl Sandburg Middle School
Levittown, Pennsylvania
Bucks County Courier Times: "Where Character is 'Cool'"

Amy Feldman is a 13-year-old student at Carl Sandburg Middle School in Levittown, PA. She participated in the MindOH! Foundation's 2002 Character's Cool Contest, and won an Experience Music Project prize pack.

The Character's Cool Contest was a national contest for middle school students to help stop school violence and encourage the practice of ethical behavior. Participants completed an online survey about their experiences in the aftermath of Sept 11th, bullying and school violence and the ethical behavior and character qualities needed to reduce school violence.

When asked about the first emotion she felt upon learning about the September 11th attacks, she said her first emotion had to be shock. Amy's parents and school both talked to her about the events of September 11th. She said that students at her school are not treated differently now because of the attacks.

As for how her school takes measures to prevent bullying and violence, Amy said, "There is peer mediation, so if you have a problem with someone, you can talk it over. My school tries to teach us tolerance, and tells us to accept people for who they are."

She thinks it is important for young people to learn how to manage their anger and resolve conflicts peacefully, and that it is important to be respectful of others, even when you disagree. The qualities she thinks people need to reduce violence are: Honesty, Respect, Responsibility, Kindness, Cooperation, Tolerance, Love, Patience and Self Control.

Amy feels that her school teaches these qualities. She wrote, "Our school shows us videos about prejudice and requires worksheets that make us think about what it would be like to be in a prejudice situation." She thinks about practicing these character qualities in this way. "There are some people in this school that I have problems with, but I don't make a big deal out of it. I treat them like I treat everyone else, because that way no one will be angry or hurt. If one of my friends was saying something about another person, I would tell them to stop, and would explain why they shouldn't talk about other people. If they don't stop, then they are not respecting me and I would not hang out with them anymore."

The Character's Cool Contest is not the first contest Amy has won. Once she won a writing contest. "You had to send a story into the newspaper," she said. "I don't remember what I wrote about, but I won a $50 gift certificate to Toys R Us."

Amy's hobbies include reading and writing. She is in the reading Olympics at school, plays the piano, and is active in her religious school. She collects baseball cards, dolls and coins.

She says she is not the kind of person who looks up to movie stars and teen idols. "If I look up to anyone, it's my mom. She always tries to help me with a problem, in school and out. She teaches me a lot of things and both my parents are always there for me."

Amy loves her school. She wrote, "I think I have a great opportunity to learn in my school because it offers so many programs to us. My favorite subject is English. I also like Spanish, algebra, computers and art. This year, my English, Spanish, and gym/health teachers are my favorites. They make the subjects fun, and I look forward to going to class." Her friends are also very important. "If I didn't have my friends, I would never look forward to going to school. It makes school so much easier to have someone to talk to."

If she could go anywhere in the world, Amy would probably choose Arizona, because she has family there and thinks it would be a really cool place to go. "I might also want to go to Missouri, Ohio, and Utah because I have family living there too," she said. "I might want to go somewhere fun, like Florida or the Bahamas. There are so many places I'd like to go, I couldn't choose just one."

When Amy grows up, she wants to be a veterinarian because she has always loved animals, and wants a job that works with them. If she can't be a vet, she would want to be a zoologist or a breeder.

Intelligent, trustworthy, loyal, kind and friendly, Amy says if she could give one piece of advice to other students, she would say, "I think that you should never judge anyone before you get to know them, and even if you discover you don't like someone, don't treat them badly or bully them. Bullying someone can't help you or that person, so just stay away from the person if you have a problem with him or her."

Way to go Amy!