Robinson Is Top Volunteer

Maya Robinson, 18, of Bethel, has been named one of Vermont’s top two youth volunteers for 2007 by The Prudential Spirit of Community Awards, a nationwide program honoring young people for outstanding acts of volunteerism. The awards program, now in its 12^th year, is conducted by Prudential Financial in partnership with the National Association of Secondary School Principals (NASSP).

Robinson was nominated by Whitcomb Junior-Senior High School in Bethel. As a State Honoree, she will receive $1,000, an engraved silver medallion, and an all-expense-paid trip in early May to Washington, D.C., where she will join the top two honorees, one middle level and one high school youth, from each of the other states and the District of Columbia for several days of national recognition events. Ten of them will be named America’s top youth volunteers for 2007 at that time.

Robinson, a senior at Whitcomb, created an exhibit of photographs taken by 20 international exchange students over the past 35 years, to promote greater understanding of foreign cultures and the interconnectedness of people around the world. A skilled photographer, she began planning her exhibit two years ago before spending a year in India as a Rotary International Exchange Student.

"I thought that coordinating with other exchange students to get photographs from all over the world would make a powerful visual connection between our community at home and our international host families and friends," she said.

During her exchange year in India, Robinson took more than 6,000 photos and asked other exchange students online to share photos that captured what it was like to live in a different culture. While there, she also raised money to pay for heart surgeries for more than 100 Indian children and conducted a drive to collect winter clothing for 35 children in a local orphanage.

When she returned to Vermont, Robinson went through thousands of photographs taken in 18 countries to select images for her exhibit, then reproduced, sized, and framed them. During its month-long showing at Chandler Gallery, the exhibit, entitled "Seeing Eye to Eye," helped "everyone who saw it feel like they were part of a global community," she said. It was so successful that it was scheduled to travel to three Rotary International Conferences.

Robinson is selling copies and postcards of her photographs during her shows and donating the proceeds to support clean water projects.

"The change I want to see is a world united across cultural boundaries through clear communication," she said.

Currently waiting to hear from colleges, Robinson doesn’t know exactly where she’ll be studying next year, but she plans to major in history and globalization studies.

"I don’t have a set career goal yet," she said, "but I’ve been thinking that I’d like to work at the U.N., documenting problems around the world with my photography."

Robinson’s proud parents, Rebbie Carleton and Jim Robinson, will accompany her to Washington, D.C., to receive her award.

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