Hooked on helping

Getting involved becomes a passion for Whitefish senior

Hannah Pearce spent her first two years of high school at a tiny - "as in 15 kids" - private school in Vermont.

Extracurricular activities were limited, she said, and she didn't know how to get involved with anything outside of school.

That changed her junior year, when her family moved to Montana and she started at Whitefish High School. In the last two years, Pearce has been active in the Violence Free Crisis Line's P.E.A.C.E. Project, been part of the school district's Adventure Program, competed in speech and debate, served as vice president of the Environmental Club, started a Young Democrats group and worked as co-editor of the school newspaper.

"I compacted all the activities of high school into two years," she said with a smile.

Pearce, 18, didn't participate for participation's sake or to pad a r/sum/, however.

"These things, all of them, are important to me," she said. "I don't see any reason not to be involved."

The activity she is most proud of is her work with the P.E.A.C.E. (Peers Educating and Advocating for Changing Expectations) Project. Pearce and other volunteers learn about issues and statistics concerning domestic violence and work to promote healthy dating relationships.

Pearce said that while she doesn't have personal experience with dating violence, she doesn't see that as an excuse to not get involved.

"If I only cared about things I personally went through, I wouldn't get much done," she said.

Through P.E.A.C.E., Pearce has given presentations to high school and middle school students and helped organize Whitefish High's PEACEful Prom Project, which raised awareness about dating violence to prevent sexual assault on prom night.

"It's a great way to spread peace at a local level," she said. "I feel it's important, that the local work we do makes a difference, even if it's just with one person."

She has the same attitude toward Whitefish's Adventure Program, which uses a ropes course to help students' personal development.

"Students learn about themselves - trust, ego, all that," Pearce explained.

The Adventure Program has been around for more than a decade, but high school counselor Jim Thormahlen brought it to Muldown Elementary School five years ago. Now all fourth-graders go through the program, in which students such as Pearce teach them about teamwork and respect.

"It's exhausting," Pearce said of working with a classroom full of fourth-graders. "But they have fun, and so do I. And I think that's one of the most important things."

Caring for the environment is another of Pearce's passions.

"I always thought of it as an extremely important thing," she said.

Environmental awareness is something of a family priority, she added. Her father ran an organic farm in Vermont.

"We've always been pretty environmentally responsible people in my family," she said.

A group of seniors started the club during her first year in Whitefish. She said she knew right away she wanted to be involved.

This year, the club adopted a section of Big Mountain Road to clean. Club members took part in Clean the Fish. This week, the club is sponsoring bike-to-school week to encourage students to find alternative transportation to school.

Pearce helped to organize other events for the Environmental Club, including a Frisbee golf tournament and Environmental Awareness Week. She's currently planning a rally for another group, Whitefish High School's Young Democrats, which she helped start this spring.

The club is small because it's new and began so close to the end of the school year, but it has been active during its short lifetime. Club members registered people to vote during Clean the Fish, which garnered good community support, Pearce said.

"People told us, 'It's cool you're involved in politics,'" she said.

Now the Young Democrats are planning for a "Rally for America's Future" on June 6 at Depot Park in Whitefish. As the club's co-chair, Pearce has been a key planner for the event, which may feature Sen. Jon Tester as a guest speaker.

Pearce's involvement with Young Democrats will last until the end of June, when she will move back to Vermont. That doesn't mean the end of her involvement in the activities she loves, however.

"I want to continue doing all the stuff I've been doing," she said. "I'm going to lead a ropes course at a summer camp in Vermont. And as far as Young Democrats, I will help campaign, and I will vote for the Democratic nominee."

She expects to have plenty of opportunities for involvement at Smith College in Northampton, Mass., where she will major in English literature. The school has a strong women's studies program, she said, and a large environmental studies program. She plans to take advantage of both.

Her extracurricular schedule might be less hectic in college, but Pearce said she'll continue her involvement in the issues she's passionate about.

"I'll always kind of continue the way I have been," she said. "I like it. It makes me feel like I'm doing something for the world I live in.

"Hopefully I'm making a difference. I like to think so."

Reporter Kristi Albertson may be reached at 758-4438 or by e-mail at kalbertson@dailyinterlake.com.