There has been quite a bit of humor surrounding the introduction of a bill by state Representative Berta Gardner to name the Malamute the Alaska state dog. I just hope the kids who worked so hard to get this bill introduced don’t find the laughter too discouraging.
You see, I think the great triumph of the Obama campaign was not its message or the medium it used. To me, its greatest triumph was the ability to get an entire generation involved in politics that had, until then, been pretty apathetic and disaffected.
Obama found a spark and nurtured it into a flame that carried him straight to the White House against all odds. He found a way to reach young people and get them believing again. Not just believing in him, but believing in democracy and participatory government and the idea that what they thought and said and did could make a difference. Think about it. Some of them went out and voted for the first time in the lives because of what that campaign did for their belief in our system. His campaign brought an entire generation into our political system that until then had been sitting on the sidelines.
The kids at Polaris K – 12 are doing the same thing, albeit on a smaller scale.
These kids had an idea, got others involved, learned how the system worked and what it would take to make their idea a reality and then went out and made it happen. They got signatures on petitions; they got state and city leaders and civic groups to support them; they divided themselves into groups and learned how to work together to make a whole out of the pieces each brought to the table; they created a power point presentation…ok, that doesn’t thrill me as much as the other things they did if only because the words “power point presentation” cause my snooze button to instantly activate.
Be that as it may, they did all the prep work needed and then – much to the shame of many adult “activists” – they submitted the entire required legislative packet not just by deadline, but early. No requests for extensions, no excuses for lateness. The packet was where it needed to be, when it needed to be there with all the forms filled out and ready to go.
I will be the first to admit that naming a state dog is not exactly high on anyone’s priority list. That little billion-dollar budget deficit probably takes precendence. But that’s no reason to make fun of either Representative Gardner or these kids.
Because the important thing isn’t really whether a Malamute or a Schnauzer gets chosen as state dog. The important thing is that Polaris K-12 is teaching its students how to be good citizens in a representative form of democracy. The teachers are taking the time to help these students understand that they can make a difference and that if they work together, their government will respond to them. They are teaching them that a government of, by and for the people can survive so long as the people it represents care enough to make it work.
It took the people Obama’s campaign brought into the system a lot longer to learn this lesson than it’s taking the kids at Polaris. The students being brought onboard at Polaris start at kindergarten. Capturing their interest when they are young and showing them that their votes and actions can make a difference is an accomplishment that should be shouted from the mountaintops.
So you can laugh all you want at the idea of Alaska needing a state dog. And I’ll be the first to admit that we’ve survived the first fifty years without one and could probably survive the next fifty too without ever naming a specific breed to represent us. But what we can’t survive is the apathy of the generations coming up now through our schools. We need them to engage in democracy to keep this state and country great.
So I say to all the legislators in Juneau, stand up and vote on this issue and proudly state your position of Malamute or not Malamute. Let those kids know that in our form of government, everyone’s voice can be heard.