Local Kids: Voices for Change

Fifteen-year-old Zoe Korengold has a strong independent voice and she wants people to listen to it.  So far, so good.

Korengold was recently honored with a because she used her “strong independent voice” to convince the Minnetonka and Hopkins city councils to establish within city parks and the trails within those parks.

“Now there is freedom for a person to say to someone who is smoking in Minnetonka and Hopkins parks, 'Can you please not smoke here—it's not allowed,'” Korengold said.

She helped lead this no-smoking charge as part of an organization of students at called Students Promoting Positive Actions (SPPA). Its purpose: to achieve positive change in the community.

Korengold said she first joined SPPA because her best friend was in the group and it seemed like fun. But she said, the group quickly evolved into something more than just fun.

“For the first time I felt like adults cared about what someone my age would say, and I was doing something to change something. I was making a change even if it was small,” Korengold said.  “It's really shaped me by having confidence in myself. I can stand up and people listen."

Denise McKizzie, staff advisor to SPPA, nominated the ninth-grader and Minnetonka resident, for the Caring Youth Recognition Award.

“I remember sitting in the Hopkins city council meeting and she went off script—they had scripts. She was so passionate when she was speaking to the Hopkins mayor,” McKizzie remembered.  “At first I panicked—What is she going to say? But the questions that she asked him, they just fit right in.”

Korengold said she’s proud that she played a vital part in promoting a policy change. But she's not stopping with just the local area—she said she wants all children to live in a smoke-free world. 

“I'd like mothers and fathers who smoke to try and quit because if they smoke in a place where kids can see them, the kids are going to know 'mommy and daddy smoking – that's OK,'” said Korengold. “It would be nice not to have tobacco use anywhere near children.”

Along with leadership comes a heart for service. Korengold has helped McKizzie make blankets for , knit caps for Bundles of Love, and currently participates in Be the Change, North Junior High's volunteer club.

“She cares about people, and it shows,” McKizzie said. “Anytime I have something she's like, 'I'm there – what do you want me to do.'”

“I just want to see a lot of change for this world,” she said. “I'm a believer in world peace – it would be nice to get a little closer to that.”

***

Other facts about Zoe Korengold:

• She loves creative writing.
• She hopes to be a teacher.  
• Watch out—she's closing in on her black belt in karate.