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Keeping Up with Kali, An Outstanding PAL Kid
By Karen Fleming
We are also proud to say that Kali is a PAL kid! Master Officer Paul
Pearson, director of Ft. Pierce Police Athletic League (PAL), wrote,
“Kali helped start our Youth Leadership Program (YDP) in 2008 as
president. [Ft. Pierce had a YDP some years previously, but it was
discontinued because of lack of interest, Master Officer Pearson said]
“Over the seven years I have known her, I have watched Kali blossom from
a quiet child into a young woman who takes charge when necessary.”
With Kali at the helm, the renewed YDP group flourished. Kali has
brought in more than half of the members currently in the program,
Master Officer Pearson stated. Starting with six members, membership
topped twenty at its peak to date. She served as president of her local
unit for two years, concurrently serving as trustee for the Youth
Advisory Council at the state level of the PAL Youth Directors’
Council. In 2009, she was selected for the Youth Conference Committee
(YCC), and served for three years, planning and executing the annual YDC
conference in Disney World, this last year serving as the committee’s
co-chair. Melissa Alexander, Kali’s mom, and a very busy woman in her
own right with three jobs, supervises the YDP at Fort Pierce PAL.
Kali has volunteered her time to help PAL host a Toy Run for the last
several years. She has served spaghetti and sorted the donated toys.
This year, she said, she helped make crafts and baked goods for the run.
Over the course of the summer of 2010, Kali volunteered at Ft. Pierce
PAL’s summer camp, helping the youth with creative activities and
projects, helping the director maintain the website, and assisting other
counselors with their groups. “She is a very encouraging mentor, and
the younger youth looked up to her,” Master Officer Pearson said. She
will help with the camp again in the summer of 2011.
“Kali has volunteered well over 300 hours with the Police Athletic
League,” Master Officer Pearson said. “I find it amazing that Kali can
maintain such an exceptional GPA while continuing with all her extra
activities.”
It’s not just school, not just PAL, and not just music, but it’s also
the 4-H Club which Kali has belonged to for five years—all of which take
up lots of her time. As part of 4-H, Kali is in the Star Bright Dog
Obedience Club, has held leadership positions, and currently helps
younger kids train their dogs.
At Thanksgiving and Christmas, Kali’s youth group at church gathers food
and presents baskets to families in need. “I am dedicated to helping
others,” Kali said.
College is on tap for the fall. Kali will attend the University of
Central Florida and will work toward a bachelor’s degree in special
education with a minor in elementary education. After that, she said,
“I would like to move to Titusville or even stay in Orlando and work
with the local schools as an elementary school special education
teacher, if I can get a job in that position. I’m certainly hoping for
a job as a first grade teacher and then moving into special ed classes
if a position opens up.”
We asked Kali to give some advice for younger PAL kids, so here it is,
from a girl who’s been there. Kali said, “You can do anything you put
your mind to. This is really as true as it can get. You have the power
to be the absolute best regardless of what other people say. A lot of
people have tried to discourage me from pursuing an associate’s degree
while in high school, and also from becoming a special education
teacher. But I know that I can do whatever it is I want to do, and I’m
halfway there. There are a lot of challenges along the way, but you
can’t let them stop you. Keep on going, and you will be the best. Some
other advice is that everyone fails at some point in life. It’s the
only way to learn. So if you fail at something, keep trying and you
will get better. Keep your head up high and believe in yourself when
everyone else doesn’t.”
With inspiration like that, Kali may have a career in motivational
speaking in addition to teaching her very fortunate students. The one
thing we’re sure of is that Kali will leave a legacy of excellence no
matter where her path takes her. “We’re sure going to miss her,” Master
Officer Pearson wrote, “but I know she will always do the right thing as
she has a heart of gold.
****
Mark Livengood
by
Karen Fleming
Mark
Livengood was wild about soccer, a real “standout,” according to Officer
John Anderson, Mark’s boxing coach at the Cape Coral Police Athletic
League (PAL). Mark, the captain of his high school soccer team, was
looking for a way to stay in shape during soccer’s off season, so he
came to the Cape Coral PAL gym to work out in the summer of 2006.
Officer Anderson, who ran the boxing program at Cape Coral
PAL, said he saw some “pugilistic promise” emerging as Mark was training
that summer. Officer Anderson called Major Mike Pedersen over, and
introduced him to Mark. Major Pedersen, a graduate of the United
States Naval Academy, is also the local Blue and Gold Information
Officer, an admissions liaison officer for the Naval Academy. He told
Mark about career opportunities in the Navy and encouraged him to visit
the academy. After visiting the academy, Mark became excited about “the
prospect of a career in the Navy,” Officer Anderson said. “With the
support of the Cape Coral Police Department and the Police Athletic
League behind him, Mark went on to spend a prep year at New Mexico
Military Institute on a Navy Foundation Scholarship and subsequently on
to the Naval Academy as a member of the Class of 2013.
“Today, Mark Livengood is a Second Class Midshipman (Junior)
at the Academy and is majoring in systems engineering. He aspires to be
a Navy pilot one day,” Officer Anderson continued.
“Boxing was a good teacher,” Officer Anderson said. “Mark
attributes much of his success in life so far to the hard-fought lessons
learned in the boxing ring and to the support and encouragement from the
Cape Coral Police Department.”
As Mark sees it: “One needs to train hard and be prepared.
When you’re in the ring, there are no time-outs and no one to pass the
ball to. It’s not always the strongest or the most skilled person who
prevails . . . it’s equally about mental toughness, discipline, and
determination.”
“This is another fine example of how the Police Athletic
Leagues make dreams come true,” Officer Anderson said. “Every time Mark
returns to his home town, he comes to the gym and mentors others to stay
on the right path and follow their dreams.”
It’s also another fine example of what we hear so often about
PAL kids: Once a PAL kid, always a PAL kid. They become part of the
PAL family, and they don’t ever age out of it. And so we love to keep
up with them!
****
Shanessa Stewart
By Karen
Fleming
Rhonda first met Shanessa some years ago at a SFAPAL
Basketball Championship at Disney’s Wide World of Sports in Orlando.
“She was helping Walt [Walt Wesley, executive director of Fort Myers
PAL] and Mr. West [Howard West, who works with Walt] with their youngest
girls. Those little ladies just listened to her and were in awe of
her. I spent about forty-five minutes trying to convince her to join
our Youth Directors’ program. I had asked her the year before, and she
said she was already committed to a lot of school and PAL things. But
she finally agreed the following year, and she has become everything I
knew she would. She is a REAL PAL KID and an example to us all.”
“Shanessa is one of those kids who practically grew up in PAL,” Walt
Wesley, of Fort Myers PAL, said. (Shanessa joined the Fort Myers Police
Athletic League when she was nine years old, and now she is eighteen.)
“She was very young when she started. She was actually hanging around
the Youth Directors’ program teenagers, and she was too young [to become
a youth director, whose ages are 13-18]. She participated in just about
everything we had, but she really loved basketball.”
When Shanessa stopped playing PAL basketball, she joined the Fort Myer’s
PAL Youth Directors’ program, as Rhonda Scott had urged her to do. Since
then, Shanessa has served as sergeant-at-arms for her local unit, and
for the last couple of years, president. On the regional level, she
served as vice president. On the state level, she helped plan the
annual YDC Conference at Disney World as a member of the Youth
Conference Committee, a position many youths aspire to attain.
Shanessa is a familiar face to the kids at Fort Myers PAL.
“She still hangs around, and kind of helps Mr. West out,” Walt Wesley
said. “She comes by and says, ‘Hi.’ In the annals of Fort Myers PAL,
she would definitely be a story for us, too.
“She’s really a tremendous person,” Mr. Wesley said.
“Knowing her background, she’s had some problems, but she seems to be
overcoming them. She’s got her head on straight. She’s headed in the
right direction. To top it all off, she’s always been a good student.”
In fact, Shanessa will be graduating second in her class in
June 2011 from Dunbar High School in Fort Myers. “I’m very excited,”
she told us. She leaves an outstanding record behind her, belonging to
the National Honor Society and serving in “Student Class” at Dunbar.
Student Class is the group that plans the prom, the graduation,
fundraising events and makes important decisions involving their
particular class. Shanessa also played basketball, volleyball, softball
and track for her school. As if that weren’t enough, when we talked
with her in late April, she’d already earned thirty-seven college
credits, and by the time she graduates, she will have earned
forty-nine!
Her favorite subject is math. That especially includes
pre-calculus, one of the subjects which she studied as part of her dual
enrollment at Dunbar and Edison College. “I really like that a lot,”
she said.
Shanessa lives with her mother in Fort Myers. An older
sister, age nineteen, and her little son, Shanessa’s nephew, have their
own apartment. Tragically, Shanessa’s thirteen-year-old younger brother
was shot and killed two days before we spoke in late April. “So now
it’s just me and my mom,” Shanessa said. “I just think of it as if it
hasn’t really happened. Like one day, reality will hit.” Shanessa’s
strong spirit shines through even in this dark moment, as she said, “I’m
getting through it.”
Shanessa has worked at Publix as a cashier for the last year
and a half. If she ever has any spare time, she “enjoys chilling and
hanging out, being on the computer, and hanging out with her family or
with her boss and some friends.”
In the fall, Shanessa will attend the University of Florida
in Gainesville. She is very interested in studying criminal justice.
She has been awarded the Florida Opportunity Scholarship, which she
describes as “a full ride scholarship,” and the Hillmyer Tremont Student
Athletic Scholarship, which is worth $16,000 for four years. When
describing how it feels to have been awarded these scholarships, she
said, “I am very blessed and thankful.
“I know many of the awards wouldn’t have been awarded to me
without PAL giving me the opportunity to be part of its flourishing
program. On all of my applications, I mention PAL and everything I have
done in PAL, whether it’s pertaining to scholarships or job
applications. That makes a big difference on applications, being that I
didn’t participate in other organizations as much as I did in PAL.”
In some personal correspondence to the State PAL office
recently, Shanessa thanked them for the many opportunities PAL has
offered her. “I just want to say thank you for exposing me to the many
great people, such as the public speakers and especially Big Milt [at
the Youth Directors’ Conferences]. I have learned so much from the PAL
program, and I know without it, I know for a fact, I would not be the
person I am today. Thank you guys so much for everything.”
“I am so proud of her,” Rhonda Scott said, “and prouder
still that she allowed Florida PAL and myself to become a part of her
life.”
Overcoming adversity, developing a strong moral
character, striving to achieve one’s personal best, and just making the
world a better place because they are in it: This is what makes a real
PAL kid!
***
Stephon Morales and Tacoi Sumler Stephon Morales
At the Youth Directors Conference, when
I first went in 2006 I thought “alright a free trip to Orlando sit thru
some classes no big deal it should be nice”. When I arrived and the
classes started with the speakers, I realized “wow this is better than I
thought” so many things were said that a teenager can relate to in life,
in school, and family wise. Pal has taught that life can be easy if you
make the right choices and follow the rules but the hard part is being
able to make or having the ability to make the right choices with peer
pressure around you all the time. It’s not always simple being able to
tell a friend “nah that’s not such a good idea” but Pal has given
everyone in the trainings the tools needed to be able to turn someone
down or reject them without turning it into a fight or argument.
In my four years of being in Pal and the
hundreds of events I have done I can say that neither of them has been
hard work, it’s been fun work. Anytime you get with a group of people
that everyone has something’s in common and you’re doing the same kind
of work it’s never hard. My Pal in all the events ranging from feeding
the homeless to cleaning mangroves in the ocean to sorting food for
under privileged families none of it has been hard work since I have
friend there that I have known for years. I’m the kind of person that
does not like being at home doing nothing I have to be out there doing
something so these community service projects have been perfect. Even my
friend that do nothing but sit at home playing videogames or stay on
talk on the phone for days at a time still have fun coming out and
lending a hand. Some people complain that their spring break or summer
they want to stay at home play games and hang with friends people ask me
what do I do I say I go help out Pal, they’ll look at me and say what’s
that I will explain that we go do various community service projects, to
helping other people to trainings to help out in life, they would say
why do you waste your time with that, I’ll look at them and laugh saying
why do you waste your time at home watching TV, talking on the phone and
playing video games while you guys are doing that I’m out there making a
difference and having fun with people. Funny part is the next week or so
there asking me how they can join Pal. Also Pal has shown me plenty of first.
The one’s I remember the most are the plane flights to New Orleans and
Washington D.C. Those will be experiences I will remember for the rest
of my life. These trips have exposed me to different cultures and
lifestyles. Also the knowledge I have gained I have noticed I will
always use throughout my life like a saying made by Dr. Calvin Mackie
“The man who knows how has the job, the man who knows why is the boss”.
Being on the Youth Conference Committee
(YCC) has given me the skills to be able to talk in front of a group of
over 200 people and not get nervous. I never knew I was able to do that.
Now I am able to go in front of a group of any number of people and
start talking about any topic that I have knowledge on without being
nervous. As time has gone on I have moved up from just being in my Local
Pal chapter to the youth advisory Vice-President in region 1 to the
Sergeant-At-Arms in the YCC. Along the way I have meet numerous people
that came from being acquaintances to being lifelong friends. I heard a
saying from a youth resource officer in my department “in life you will
come to know many people, as time goes on you will only remember the one
who have made and impact on your life” and now I can honestly say that
Pal has introduced me to many of those people ranging from the speakers
to advisors on the local level and my YCC advisors. All in all this program has meant a
great deal to me and it has made me want to be an advisor when I become
a police officer. I can surely say that I will be a Pal advisor and pass
on the knowledge I have gained to my kids and my Pal kids in the future. Tacoi Sumler
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“Shanessa
is an inspiration,” Rhonda Scott, program manager for the State of
Florida Association of Police Athletic/Activities Leagues (SFAPAL),
said. “She has a strength that is rare in someone so young. We love
her.” 
The
Police Athletic League Youth Directors Program has done so much for me.
First off it has taught me how to care for others and place others
before me by showing me that not everyone has everything and not
everyone has the ability to care for themselves, that they rely on
people to lend a helping hand. By my local chapter taking us to Camillus
House, Sisters of Charity, and the daily bread Food Bank this has shown
me that not everyone has the resources and some may need some help and
how grateful they are to have a group of youths to come by and help. One
day while serving food at Camillus house we saw a women crying when she
saw us there serving the food and giving out water. When my advisors saw
the women they came to the conclusion that her was a young women who
still had her life ahead of her and for making poor decisions a teenager
it has caused her the future she could have had also that there were so
many youths there caring for the less fortunate I believe that touched
her heart and that she was really grateful for having us there. All I
have to say to that is that it really touched my heart and having an
unexplainable feeling of being able to make some kind of a difference in
at least one person’s life and being able to set myself aside putting
someone else in front and helping them till this day I still have that
feeling inside.