Lizzie Lewis is my hero

I was proud to contribute money and time to Elizabeth Lewis' campaign for Board of Education member. She didn't win, and that hurts. 

Maybe she wasn't the best candidate. Her campaign was so focused on hearing and empowering students that perhaps she was ignoring fiscal and administrative issues. But here's what touched my heart:

1) She announced her candidacy when was only 17, though she turned 18 in time to serve on the Board. I love it when young people are involved and giving back. She took it so seriously! Her website has more depth and detail about the Mohonasen Board of Education than I've seen from candidates in mayoral, aldermanic and state house campaigns. She made herself available to the press, and while sometimes she sounded naive she was, as Teddy Roosevelt said, "in the arena." Most touching of all, she spent all day Tuesday at the polls – just outside the perimeter where campaigning is banned. She was there for hours and hours to answer the questions of parents and voters. All this for a seat on the Board of Education! 💔

2) She stood up to a bully. I know in today's MAGA/Might Makes Right World being heavy-handed and insensitive to DEI issues is in vogue, but I'm still a proponent of the old Golden Rule. When she was still a student at Mohonasen High, Lizzie had the temerity to lobby for a GSA organization at her school. A Board member publicly singled her out, chewed her out, and disparaged her advocacy of LGBTQ+ students. He was admonished by the state's education department for the way he treated her, but he has never apologized – even though his callous remarks cost the district more than $14,000 in legal fees to defend him. 

Think about it: a grown man in a position of power holding a student up for ridicule. A student who, by the way, often needs crutches because she struggles with EDS (Ehlers-Danlos syndrome). Not a pretty picture, is it? When I was 15, that would have been enough to make me slink away. He would have completely dispirited me.

But Lizzie is made of stronger stuff. When she was old enough she ran against him. (Though she always said that wasn't the only reason why she ran. Read about it here.)

I hate bullies. I love Lizzie. Young people like her will help make our world a better, safer place.

Her yard sign