This 5th grader likes volleyball, writing, reading and helping the environment. She goes to Turning Point School where her teacher, Matt Kline, encouraged her to enter the Toyota Agent for Change contest.
 
QUESTION: How does it feel to be a first-prize winner?
ANSWER: I feel overwhelmed and proud that I won–but also because I did something that I knew was the right thing for the world.  
 
Q: How did you come up with your idea for your winning pamphlet?
A: My aunt told me about her neighbor who actually changed her car from running on diesel to a car that runs on vegetable oil. She just did a few changes at her dealership, and now, her car runs on used vegetable oil she gets from her friend who owns a restaurant.  And my teacher has a car that runs on vegetable oil because he converted his car as well!  

Q: Why is helping the environment important?
A: Someone needs to help the environment- if we don't, who will?  It is time to do something about the problem and the longer we wait the larger the problem will get.  It is also for our benefit. We will breathe cleaner air, and the world will be beautiful once again.

Q: Does your school know that you won?  
A: Yes, my teacher actually told the whole school in assembly!

Q: How can other kids take steps to be a kid leader like you?
 A: Well, all they have to do is find a problem first. There are so many problems we have in our world to fix-like reducing the amount of garbage that goes in the landfill. Once you think of the problem, next comes the solution–it can even be a simple one like organizing a beach clean up. Once they did that, kids need to go out there and tell people about their plan and how they can contribute.

Q: Why is it important that companies such as Toyota develop new technology like their hybrid vehicles?
A: Right now, oil is a major problem in America. Also, oil makes global warming worse by making the ozone layer weaker because of the pollution in the air. So it is important that Toyota continues to develop their hybrid vehicles. 

Q: What do you want to do with your future?
A: I have always had a talent for writing, and an obsession for reading.  So I plan to become an author for young adults. I also want to start an organization for kids whose parents can't afford books.

Q: How will you continue to help the environment?
A: I will educate the people around me, continue to eat organic food (rather than food with pesticides), and try to minimize the amount of trash I make every day.

Q: Anything else you'd like to share?
A: I have always been a lover of animals and nature. When I was little, I never watched any other show except National Geographic on television! I wish more people knew about Rachel Carson–a scientist and the author of Silent Spring–whom I had to do a report on last year.  She loved animals and warned the public about pesticides and how dangerous they are, but died in her early 50s from cancer. I wish more people cared as much as her about the world around us.