Teens learn how to help others

ALISO VIEJO — Weston Chandler reluctantly became a songwriter Friday.

The Newport Harbor High School junior was one of more than 100 students from around Orange County attending the Leadership Institute For Teens' annual humanitarian conference at Soka University in Aliso Viejo. On Friday, the final day, the organizers planned an exercise in which students wrote short poems about times when they felt an urge to make a difference, then submitted their words to songwriter Don Miggs to convert into lyrics.

For the first few minutes, it was slow going. Miggs, who leads a band and composes songs for weddings and other occasions, asked any student to offer some words for a tune. One head after another shook around the room and one face after another turned red. Finally, Weston, 16, directed his paper toward the front of the auditorium.

"This is brave," Miggs said as the room applauded. He then read Weston's poem out loud — "I knew there was violence/I pretended it wasn't there … " — before promising to convert it to a song by the late evening.

"You're going to be dead so much longer than you're going to be alive, and you're alive now," Miggs reminded the crowd. "So if you've got something written down, say it."

The Leadership Institute For Teens, organized by Newport Beach residents Lucy Steinberg and Sarah Weiland, encourages students to think about a number of issues, from medical breakthroughs to conditions in the Third World. More than that, though, it encourages them to take action — and that can start as simply as setting pen to paper.

The conference this week, hosted for the fourth straight year, included a panel discussion on religion, a presentation on stem cell research and even an appearance by three young South African women who talked about combating AIDS in their country.

"It powers me up for the next year, coming to this," said Weiland, an independent filmmaker who has shot documentaries in Bangladesh and other developing nations.

This year's event, whose sponsors included the Orange County Department of Education and the Orange County United Way, drew a record turnout.

"The idea is, this year more than others, getting more students from different parts of the county together," Steinberg said.