Hawken junior`s activism recognized

Hawken junior Evin McMullen recently received the Earth Island Institute`s 2006 Brower Youth Award for her leadership in environmental activism. She joins just five other winners from throughout the continent to receive the honor from the California-based organization. Evin is a co-founder of Save Our Stream (S.O.S.), an entirely student-run initiative to clean Northeast Ohio streams and save Ohio`s native Brook trout from extinction. She and the group travel throughout the area educating schoolchildren and community groups about the hazards of pollution and the necessity of preservation. Additionally, Evin`s appeared in radio and film projects about environmental awareness and written a book for school-age children about the Brook trout. She also regularly contributes to local and national publications. \"In a few years, we`ll be the leaders of the world, so we need to think seriously about what is important and start taking action,\" she said in a column for the magazine Teen Voices. The Brower Award, named for the late eco-activist David Brower, is only one of Evin`s recent awards. She was also named Activist of the Month for November in Teen Voices and will soon receive Congressional Award bronze and silver medals from Ohio Representative Steven LaTourette.