About the Youth Board

The Blue Planet Youth Board is seeking to educate and motivate youth around the world to take responsibility for water issues by creating programs for people under 25 to get involved in Blue Planet Run. The Youth Board, based out of Boulder, Colorado, consists of 17 middle, high school and college age students. We have created four unique projects to involve young people in this unique event.

Teen Board Members

CONNIE GE [email] Connie Ge is a freshman at Fairview High who loves traveling, reading, sleeping in, and fairtrade chocolate. In 7th grade she recieved 1st place in the state history day, and attended National History Day in Washington D.C. for a paper about Mao Zedong's propaganda. In 8th grade she made it on to regionals for Science Fair on a project comparing the growth and lifespan of worms fed organic and conventional food. This summer she had a great time substituting at Olpusimoru Primary, Kenya. She will volunteer at the homeless shelter this winter. Her favorite classes are government and art. Current involvements include gymnastics, boulder youth symphony and cross country.
KATIE KOPEL [email] Katie is a junior at Boulder High School. She participates in Model U.N., a peer education program on gender violence, student council, a student committee against genocide in Darfur, a freshman orientation program, and tutors the Hispanic study skills program. Katie also did the Amigos program this summer, in which she got the opportunity to spend eight weeks in the Dominican Republic and worked on community based initiatives to clean up the environment as well as youth education.
DANIEL WEIDLEIN [email] Daniel Weidlein is a junior at Fairview High School. He is currently the highest ranked jazz saxophonist of Colorado High School students, and also enjoys photography and filmmaking. In June of 2006, Weidlein placed fourth in the National History Day contest for a documentary about the graphic Billie Holiday song "Strange Fruit," which depicts a lynching. He is also one of the founding members of the Model UN team at Fairview, participates in debate, and finds time to work on local service projects including reading on a radio show for people with visual impairments.
SABINE KUNZ [email] Sabine has been involved in Amnesty International since the beginning of high school. Having spent the first five years of her life in Germany, she enjoys traveling around Europe with her family and recently participated in an exchange program. A passionate runner, she participates in cross country and track.
KELLY HARTZELL [email] Kelly Hartzell is a 14 year-old freshman at Fairview High school. She is a part of Amnesty International and Fashion for a Cause, both clubs raise money and awareness for different issues facing the world today. She hopes to be a part of the model UN next year with Fairview’s program. She enjoys playing volleyball, snowboarding and exercising in her spare time.
ANNA SERGEEVA [email] Born in the Ukraine, Anna Sergeeva is now a junior at Fairview High School in Boulder, CO. She is pursuing the International Baccalaureate Diploma. Anna is involved in her high school newspaper, the Royal Banner, where she is the Features Editor. She has also published dozens of articles in her county newspaper, the Daily Camera, where she is the youngest intern to have ever worked there. At Fairview, Anna founded a club called Fashion for a Cause, which raises money for a chosen charity through a fashion event. She is working on upcoming show that will raise thousands of dollars for Blue Planet Run. Anna is also a Link Leader, helping incoming freshmen adjust to high school. In addition, she participates in the National Honor Society and Model United Nations, as a member of Press Corps. Anna is also an athlete, playing varsity tennis since freshman year. In her free time, Anna volunteers at a local hospital for low-income families and tutors students at her old middle school.
ALLIE JOHNSON [email] Allie is a sophomore at Fairview High School in Boulder. This year, in addition to serving as the student-elected president of the sophomore class and a member of Student Council, she is also a member of the junior varsity volleyball team. Her favorite subjects in school are science and math and she hopes to enroll in biology and pre-med courses in college. She also enjoys speaking Spanish and has worked on four extended volunteer projects to build houses for Spanish-speaking families in Mexico and Colorado. Her ultimate goal is to help provide medical services for the poor in Spanish-speaking parts of the world.
DANIEL HAARBURGER [email] Daniel Haarburger, a freshman at Boulder High School, in Boulder, Colorado, brings a variety of talents to the Blue Planet Run Team Board. These include talents as a successful filmmaker, science fair winner, world traveler, and CEO of a Junior Achievement business that donated all profits to an organization called The Lost Girls of Sudan. In 2005, Daniel's science fair project on solar and hydrogen technology won several awards including recognition from the U.S. Military, and the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers, and an all expenses paid trip to the INTEL International Science and Engineering Fair in Indianapolis Indiana. That same year, Daniel went to the State level of competition for National History Day with a documentary titled, "A World of Lyrics: Rap Music as a Means of Communicating Social and Political Discontent."
CHYTANYA KOMPALA [email] Chytanya Kompala, at the age of thirteen, brings the experience of leader to the teen board of BPR. Chytanya is currently a freshman at Fairview High School in Boulder, Colorado. She serves as the Freshman Vice President of Student Council, and is involved with Model UN and Amnesty International at her school. Chytanya is truly dedicated to volunteering and has a passion for world affairs. During the 2006 Conference on World Affairs, Chytanya meet Anthony Romero, the executive director of the American Civil Liberty Union. They exchanged e-mail’s and had in contact for over a month following. Chytanya is looking forward to being apart of Blue Planet Run.
ERIN SILK [email] Erin Silk is a junior at Fairview High School in Boulder, Colorado, where she is an International Baccalaureate Diploma Candidate. At Fairview, she is an active member of Debate, Model UN, and Youth in Government, and has traveled nationally to pursue opportunities in these programs. She is also treasurer of her select school choir, Madrigals, and takes voice lessons in her free time. She has been dancing since age seven, and has been a member of Danse Etoile Ballet, a youth ballet company, for the past year.
CAROLINE MELHADO [email] Caroline is a junior at Fairview High School in Boulder, Colorado. She is involved in the Student Senate, Debate team, Amnesty International club, Model UN, and is the head of Volunteer Mafia. Caroline also runs cross country and plays soccer for Fairview. On the teen board she is in charge of the Adopt-A-Village program which allows high school and university students to "adopt" a village in need of a water sanitation system and implement a water project.
AYANA OTTEMAN [email] Ayana Michele Esther Otteman is a twelve year old girl in 7th grade at Manhattan Middle School for Arts and Academics, who loves music and is doing everything she can to make the world a better place. When I was 11 I started an organization called Conscious Kids. Conscious Kids set out to get kids in touch with their opinions and show them that they can make a difference. We plan on doing an across America tour in 2007 to listen to kids and find out what inspires them and what they care about. After that we will host a million Kid march in the summer of 2008. For fun I play soccer, piano and flute. So who am I? Well I’m just a girl who’s trying to make a difference.
BEN KUELTHAU [email] A native and resident of Boulder, Colorado, Ben Kuelthau is a sophomore at Fairview High School. He enjoys keeping up with current events and international affairs, and participates in the Model UN program at Fairview. He also runs on the Fairview cross country team, plays for the baseball team, sings in the school choir, and is an avid skier in the nearby Rockies.
RACHEL BAUM [email] Rachel Baum is a junior at Boulder High School. She participates in Leader’s Challenge, Students for Darfur Awareness and Action, and Model UN. Rachel is a tutor with the AVID (Achievement Via Individual Determination) program at Casey Middle School. She runs on both the varsity cross country and track team. Rachel greatly enjoys traveling, having spent the past summers studying abroad in Costa Rica and Japan. Someday she hopes to travel to and work in Africa.