6 years, 9 months ago Mary Griffith
Remember this name: Alea Van de Velde. She is going to be a change-maker when she grows up. She already is at just 12 years old.
I met Alea Wednesday, July 5th when she came on my radio show to ask listeners to vote for her to win a Disney cruise family vacation to the Bahamas.Alea was chosen as a top 50 finalist for the Focus on the Family oratorical contest on merit alone. She needed website votes to win the vacation. Lots of WTAD listeners tried to help Alea win. They went to the whitsend.org website, viewed her speaking contest video and clicked the vote button. But their votes did not register. Technology let them down. A glitch thwarted their voting efforts. This is a tough life lesson for Alea. She made the top 50 in the nation on merit. She may lose out on the prize for circumstances beyond her control. That's rough.
I hope Alea files a complaint with Focus on the Family and whitsend.org. I hope she gets to take her mom, pop, brother and sister on that Disney Cruise. Most of all, I hope she is not discouraged. She is intelligent, articulate, precocious, charismatic and cute as a button. She might become a best-selling author and illustrator, an actress or diplomatic negotiator. The Central Adams School District has a future superstar in training on their hands.
So remember that name: Alea Van de Velde.
