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Newsome teens take on global scourge

The high school's Gay-Straight Alliance is hosting an AIDS benefit concert Sunday at Skipper's Smokehouse.

By ERNEST HOOPER
Published December 15, 2006

The Newsome High School Gay-Straight Alliance again garnered attention this week when the School Board decided not to force students to get their parents' permission to join clubs.

Alliance members, sporting black and white T-shirts, attended the meeting and voiced opposition to the parental-permission rule.

Still, these kids want the world to know there's more to their group than headlines and School Board rulings. That's why they will host an AIDS benefit concert at Skipper's Smokehouse on Sunday.

"I think it shows we're not just focused on gay rights," said Alliance member Olivia Gold, one of the primary concert organizers. "We're focusing on worldwide issues. We're not closed-minded people.

"Hopefully, it portrays us in a good light and proves we're trying to make a difference."

The Alliance is following the lead of a group of former Newsome students who staged a relief concert for Darfur refugees in July. In fact, the Sudan Relief Jam committee has lent a lot of support to this latest philanthropic effort.

"They were the backbone of what inspired us," Alliance president Stephanie Kyle said.

"I've talked to Aylin Saner, who was behind the Sudan concert, so many times. They've given us a lot of guidance about how to get organized, who to call and the names of businesses."

The idea for a concert arose from the Alliance's first meetings at the beginning of the school year. The officers wanted to jump-start the organization while lending a hand to an international cause.

The devastating international impact of AIDS proved to be a compelling issue for club members, especially when they discovered that so few students knew details about the epidemic.

According to the YouthAIDS Web site, which will receive all proceeds from the concert, AIDS kills one child every minute. Every 15 seconds, a young person contracts AIDS. The disease has orphaned 15-million children worldwide.

In the process of learning more about AIDS and organizing the concert, the bond between members has grown stronger.

"It definitely has brought us closer, because we're all volunteering in this together," Kyle said. "The main organizers were pretty close friends, but there were other members of the club who were scattered and didn't know each other.

"Now I'm feeling really good about the concert. We've all worked really hard. It's been a stressful task and huge learning experience."

The concert, Apathy Is Lethal, is scheduled to run from 1 p.m. to 7 p.m. and will feature a variety of musical styles from hip-hop to modern rock to alternative goth.

With two Newsome High groups organizing benefit concerts this year, is there something in the water that makes those students more philanthropic?

"I don't know if there is anything special about Newsome, but it is a very privileged school," Kyle said. "We have the best education and equipment tax dollars can buy.

"When you're so privileged, you need to take advantage of those opportunities to help people who are less fortunate."

Ernest Hooper can be reached at 226-3406 or hooper@sptimes.com.

If you go

Apathy Is Lethal

What: AIDS benefit concert

When: Sunday, 1-7 p.m.

Where: Skipper's Smokehouse, 910 Skipper Road, Tampa.

Who: Multiple bands, including EFFEX, Stalling Dawn, Orange Leads, Ether, Mark Etherington.

Proceeds: YouthAIDS

Tickets: $10 in advance, $15 at the door.

More info: 813 610-5927

[Last modified December 14, 2006, 07:40:30]