Girls State governor proves self as leader

July 8, 2008

Girls State governor proves self as leader

By NICOLE YOUNG • Staff Writer • July 8, 2008

Taylor Cox of Brentwood ran for governor with a broad platform: improving Tennessee's budget, education, health care, lottery scholarships/ higher education, social networking, environmental issues, stem cell research, state ethics and immigration.

It helped propel the 17-year-old Harpeth Hall student to victory at the recent Tennessee Volunteer Girls State.

"We are so proud of Taylor and very appreciative of the experience Volunteer Girls State offers," said Marie Maxwell, dean of students at Harpeth Hall's upper school. "She is exceptional in her awareness of the world around her, her ability to see a need and address it, and she is a good delegator."

Volunteer Girls State is a leadership and citizen-training program offered by the American Legion Auxiliary to young women who are rising high school seniors in Tennessee. The one-week program takes place each summer on the campus of Middle Tennessee State University.

Harpeth Hall began participating five years ago.

At Girls State, Taylor was assigned to Davis City, and the girls quickly rallied around her, making posters and campaigning for her, said Joanne Mamenta, director of communications at Harpeth Hall.

"Throughout the whole week I was lucky enough to be surrounded by the some of the most outstanding girls in Tennessee," Taylor said. "Immediately we went from total strangers to sisters."

As governor, Taylor is responsible for signing the bills passed by the Girls State Senate and House, appointing her Cabinet and other officials, speaking to the American Legion Auxiliary about her experiences at Girls State and, finally, returning to the program in 2009.

The honor is one of many Taylor received this year.

She received the Prudential Spirit of Community Award, a nationwide program that recognizes young people for their acts of volunteerism. Administrators at her former school, Ensworth High, nominated her for the award last year.

Taylor transferred to Harpeth Hall at the beginning of her junior year.

"She has been very active in community service, receiving national recognition from the Juvenile Rheumatoid Arthritis Foundation, and will serve as vice president of our Spirit of Service volunteer service club, next year," Maxwell said.

In 2005, Taylor founded the KARDed program, which stands for Kids Aware of Rheumatoid Diseases, to bring awareness to juvenile rheumatoid arthritis, a disease that affects nearly 300,000 kids nationwide. Taylor was 13 when she learned she has the disease.

"What I am doing is not about me," she said. "It's about all the kids who have it and live with it every day. Most people, including myself, thought arthritis was just an old person's disease."

Taylor works year round to educate the public about juvenile rheumatoid arthritis and raise money for the Arthritis Foundation. She speaks at school assemblies, student council and scout meetings, community service organizations and corporate staff meetings. She also solicits donations from corporate sponsors, leads a team in an annual walkathon, and meets with government officials to make sure they know about juvenile arthritis.

Last fall, Taylor assembled a group of Harpeth Hall students to stuff 3,000 pre-sold bags of Halloween candy that included an informational flyer on the disease.

For her efforts, she received the Dawn Hafeli Award for Youth Leadership from The Arthritis Foundation at the Juvenile Arthritis Foundation's National Conference this summer in California.

"I love going out and giving money to the Arthritis Foundation," Taylor said. "I feel like I'm helping people. It could be that some kids may be having symptoms and not know what is going on. I didn't have a clue. I felt like I had a sprained ankle that wouldn't go away.

"I found JRA is a mystery to kids, adults and even doctors," she said, adding that there is a shortage of pediatric rheumatologists and a need for better medication.