JOHN DAY – Shaking first lady Bush’s hand made high school junior Preston Ake’s day last month.

He and classmate Lincoln Mosier, also a junior at Grant Union High School, traveled to Portland on Feb. 27 with Dana Brooks, Commission on Children and Families director, and Kerryann Woomer, prevention coordinator for Grant County and Safe Communities Coalition, to a Helping America’s Youth conference.

Woomer said she looks for opportunities to further develop the leadership skills of Grant County’s young adults. “The coalition’s goal is to involve youth as much as possible,” she said.

“This community should be proud of our young adults,” Brooks said. “These two gentlemen really represented Grant County well at this conference.”

Because of Laura Bush’s attendance at the meeting – she leads the Helping America’s Youth initiative – only those accepted through an application process were invited to the conference held at Portland Center for the Performing Arts. In all, 130 people from seven states, including youth and those who work with youth, attended.

The four locals, after being seated at the meeting, realized that they were only four feet away from the first lady. She was introduced to the audience by Trail Blazers player Greg Oden – the height difference between the two was remarkable.

Mosier said he was impressed by a man named Charles Lee-Johnson, a presenter at the meeting. He said that Johnson came from a home broken by alcohol and drug addiction, poverty and abuse, yet he overcame the odds. Johnson was adopted by a mentor of his and went on to finish high school and college, eventually landing his current job, CEO of National Family Life and Education Center.

“The basic message overall was that having a family unit helps (children’s) development,” said Ake. He enjoyed hearing from Governor Ted Kulongoski who spoke about mentors as role models in their communities.

Both Ake and Mosier are involved in community and school leadership.

Ake is secretary of student council at Grant Union, and both students are a part of People Encouraging Prevention, better known as PEP.

At PEP, students discuss issues such as drug and alcohol prevention and teen driving issues and come up with projects that reinforce what they stand for.

Mosier is vice president of the Associated Student Body and last month he moved into the role of vice chairman of Commission on Children and Families after being on the board.

Ake said he’s glad to see more activities available to teens in recent years, including the Grantville Theater in Canyon City and the skate park in John Day. He’d like to see more students become involved in PEP. They meet on Thursdays about twice a month in the GUHS library during lunch – free pizza is served. The program is led by Woomer and Debi Heuckman who is program coordinator for Safe Communities. For more information about PEP, students may contact Ake or Mosier.