2007 Youth Scholar — Jessica Warner, Bartlett High School, Anchorage, Alaska

Jessica is the founding member and presiding officer of Bartlett High School’s Civil Liberties Club, which hosted the state’s first civil liberties forum last spring featuring a debate about religious liberty. The club addresses current topics inside and outside of school.  She also participates in the school’s Gay-Straight Alliance.

Jessica’s commitment to civil liberties was partially a result of her own confrontation with a violation of her rights. When Jessica was a sophomore and a member of the Junior Reserve Officers Training Corps (JROTC), she chose to remain seated during the national anthem at a pep rally. Her JROTC instructor forced her to stand and later berated her about her behavior. She pursued her complaint with the ACLU of Alaska, during which time other students spoke up about being forced to stand for the pledge of allegiance. A letter was written to the principal explaining the students’ rights, leaving Jessica with the feeling that her voice mattered.
 
Working with the ACLU of Alaska, Jessica has also been involved with Alaska’s first conference to educate youth about their rights. She was selected as a YWCA Young Woman of Achievement for her participation in civil rights education. She was chosen as one of two student advisory board members with the ACLU of Alaska and a member of the student advisory committee.

Jessica has also been part of her high school’s team for its annual “We the People” competition, in which her class participates in in-depth questioning about the Constitution and the government.

Jessica's Personal Essay:

I was in the 3rd grade when I realized that people might not accept me because I'm a different color or because I'm a girl. My class had only two white students — myself and a 5th grader. An African-American boy was talking to our teacher once and said, "Why don't we just kick them out? There's only two of 'em." Before that, race was not a word in my vocabulary. Nor was discrimination. Now, nine years later, they have to be.

Currently, I am president of Bartlett High School's Civil Liberties Club for the second year. I was a "founding member" of the club which strives to provide an incredibly open forum for students to voice our opinions on current political issues, student rights, and the changing world. My favorite activity at our club meetings is the "outrage of the week" section that opens each session. Members bring up current topics inside and outside of school that relate to civil liberties and social justice. I take pride in the fact that every week students learn more about the rights that we possess and why they are so important. I have also participated in my school's Gay/Straight Alliance, another club that is not limited to weekly meetings. I enjoy being able to advocate for equality and speak up for acceptance wherever I may be.

The spring of my sophomore year brought me face to face with a violation of my rights. That year, I was a student in the Junior Reserve Officers Training Corps (JROTC) and was attending a pep rally in the gym. During the playing of the national anthem, I chose to remain seated and was met with opposition by an instructor of my JROTC class. He forced me to stand, saying that as a member of JROTC I needed to be a mentor to other students. Later, during lunch, a time when many students are walking up and down halls, my instructor pulled me only a small distance away from a group of friends in the hall and proceeded to accost me on my behavior during the pep rally. He brought up the current war in Iraq and the troops there fighting for my freedom, even bringing up my brother who is in the Army. Knowing that my right to remain seated during the national anthem is one of the rights overseas troops are protecting, I pursued my complaint with the ACLU of Alaska. While we were discussing these incidents, members of the club brought up the fact that teachers were forcing students to stand for the pledge of allegiance or even leave the room if they weren't participating in the pledge. Not long after talking to the staff attorney, a letter was sent to my school's principal explaining our rights, which are specifically stated in the school district student handbook but obviously not followed by all staff. It was very empowering to know that my voice could eliminate this type of student rights violation from my school.

This past spring the Civil Liberties Club hosted our first public event, a debate on religious freedom at the Alaska Native Heritage Center between the ACLU National Director of Religious Freedom and Belief, Jeremy Gunn and Liberty Legal Institute's Kelly Shackleford. With the financial support of the ACLU of Alaska, our club planned this conference. I am proud to be spearheading Alaska's first, and hopefully annual, 1st Amendment conference for students this spring with the goal of educating youth about their rights. Cosponsored by the ACLU of Alaska, we have invited Alondra Jones, the student who stood up for her right to an education in the California ACLU lawsuit and was featured at the 2006 ACLU National Membership Conference, to help focus our efforts to inspire and train student activists.

Several ACLU related honors and recognitions that I am proud of include my nomination and selection as a YWCA Young Woman of Achievement for my participation in the advancement of civil rights education as well as for advocating equality. And, in July, I was chosen as one of two student advisory board members with the ACLU of Alaska as well as a member of the student advisory committee. I have already attended a board meeting and am very excited to continue to contribute to the organization.

At school, I am taking a Bill of Rights class and will be a part of the Bartlett team for the annual "We the People" competition. Our class will participate in an in-depth questioning session focusing on our understanding of the Constitution and the United States government. We will receive intensive coaching for the event from local lawyers and have as our goal to represent Alaska at the national competition.

I was astonished to hear that the Juneau based case "Bong Hits 4 Jesus" will be heard by the Supreme Court this term. As president of the Bartlett club, I am pursuing plans to involve our school's social studies department in efforts to follow the case and bring the ACLU staff to our school, including the attorney who is representing the student in the "Bong Hits" case.

While attending a local university in the fall, I plan to major in political science and extend my activism with the ACLU into the future. But for now, I just hope that the "Stop the Abuse of Power" sign hanging in my window doesn't fade and continues to translate into action.