|
Kayla Martell competed in the Miss Delaware pageant Saturday, June 14, and although she didn’t win the crown, the experience in itself was rewarding, she says. Martell competed as Miss Georgetown and was one of the 10 finalists out of an original field of 19 participants.
“My platform was on the importance of developing a positive self-image, on how vital it is for young people to have confidence in themselves,” said Martell. “Delaware 4-H was where I learned the poise and self-confidence that I possess today.”
Martell, 19, of Milford, has been active in 4-H since the age of 5, when she became a junior 4-Her, called a Cloverbud. She was a member of the Harrington Sunshine, Houston Cardinals and Holler and Hooves clubs. She says her favorite 4-H activities were cooking, sewing and public speaking.
“I have to admit, it takes guts to get up and perform in front of thousands of people at the Miss Delaware pageant,” said Martell. “The 4-H public speaking contests prepared me well.”
On occasion, Martell receives a curious glance because of a medical condition that she has called alopecia areata. This auto-immune disorder causes hair loss on the scalp and sometimes on the body. “4-H helped me become comfortable in my own skin, so when I was diagnosed with alopecia areata I chose not to wear a wig or otherwise hide the condition,” says Martell. “This is simply who I am.”
Martell believes that lack of self-esteem is often the root cause of illegal drug use by youth and teens. In 2000, she became a certified peer educator for the Health Rocks program, a 4-H curriculum that teaches at-risk youth about the hazards of tobacco, alcohol and illegal drugs. The cause is personal for Martell, who is driven by the loss of an 11-year-old friend who died of a drug overdose when they were in 6th grade together.
As a 4-H’er, Martell devoted more than 2,500 hours of community service to the Health Rocks program and she continues to be active in Health Rocks today. An education major at Long Island University in Brooklyn, she has frequently made the three-hour drive back to Delaware to teach a Health Rocks training class. Now that she is home for the summer, she is working as the Kent County coordinator for Health Rocks.
“One of my most meaningful experiences in Health Rocks came about last year, when I helped train a peer educator at a Boys and Girls Club,” recalled Martell. “One of the fourth-graders at the site surprised our peer educator with her knowledge of drug paraphernalia and drug terms. This little girl had clearly been exposed to a lot in her community.
“But by the end of the curriculum, the peer educator told me that this child was trying to get her mother to stop smoking cigarettes. After just 10 sessions, Health Rocks had transformed the child’s attitude about tobacco, alcohol and illegal drugs.”
“Kayla is a dynamite individual who has a great ability to educate others, a skill she definitely learned and enhanced through her 4-H project work,” said Doug Crouse, director of Kent County Cooperative Extension. “She has done a great job in training youth in the Health Rocks program in order for them to have the skills and knowledge to go out and train other youth in their communities. Kayla has seen the benefit that this program can bring to youth and continues to be a strong advocate in promoting it and educating others.”
“The mission of 4-H is to be a catalyst for positive change and I can’t think of anyone who epitomizes this better than Kayla Martell,” said Jan Seitz, associate dean and director of the University of Delaware Cooperative Extension. “She is such a force for good in the community.”
Martell is the daughter of Ron and Rhonda Martell of Milford. She is a graduate of Dover High School and while in high school was the Delaware state winner (out of 20,000 nominations) of the Prudential Spirit of Community Award.
|
