Today's teens get a bad rap.

My guess is that the average high school has a greater percentage of Neighbourhood Heroes than the average adult workplace with the same number of people. Granted teens have more time to focus on making a difference because they don't have the responsibility of supporting a family, but most have extremely busy schedules and yet they still find time to make a difference in their school and their community. Many of them have time management skills that would put most adults to shame.

There's no doubt that the course of studies faced by today's teens is much more challenging than it was in my day, also more of them have part time jobs during the school year than we did, and many somehow still find time to volunteer in and outside school.

Yet if you listened in on many, if not most, conversations adults have about teenagers they know or have heard about, you're not likely to find them talking with a positive tone.

I would submit that our future is in good hands. I believe there are more potential community leaders coming out of today's high schools than ever in the past.

I met five of these youth leaders last Saturday when they were applying to attend Rotary's Adventures in Leadership Conference to be held in Ottawa in April. Over two hundred students from across Canada will be travelling to our nation's capitol to learn more about our government.

Today I want to feature Kyle Roux, a Grade 11 student at Wellington Secondary with the caveat that Kyle is just one of dozens and probably hundreds of extraordinary teenagers in School District 68.

Last fall Kyle and a friend walked through their school library and realized that they really needed more books. (Unfortunately I don't have his friend's name because my tape recorder messed up ... or was it me that messed up?) Anyway as they discussed what they could do about the shortage of books, they hatched a plan to start a breakfast program and use the profits to support the library.

The program started late last fall and they expect to raise at least $1,000 in this first year and more in years to come - Kyle has already started recruiting Grade 9 students to guarantee that the program will continue after he graduates.

The breakfast program is just one of Kyle's contributions to his school and community. This current school year he has organized a Battle of the Bands and a number of other smaller events while also playing in the school band, the rugby team, and acting as a mentor to students at Coal Tyee Elementary School. All of those activities and we still haven't talked about his job that takes twenty plus hours a week.

Talk about time management skills. Monday through Friday Kyle's day starts at 7:30 with the breakfast program and continues with his regular classes. Mondays and Wednesdays he has rugby practice after school and Tuesdays and Thursdays, it's band practice. Fridays he's off to Coal Tyee to meet his mentorship commitment. Somewhere in there he finds time for homework and his twenty-hour a week job.

When he graduates Kyle is interested in training as a teacher but he also has a strong interest in politics. He plans on running for Nanaimo City Council in the next election to replace his grandfather, Lloyd Sherry. After that, when he is fluently bilingual, his life plan sees him going off to Ottawa.

Once again let me say that in my experience Kyle is just one of dozens or perhaps hundreds of extraordinary teenagers in School District 68. I hope we adults begin to spend more time focusing on these kids rather than the few who have gone astray.