Tess Forestieri

Age 14, Pennsylvania

Favorite Subject: Language Arts

Book: the Harry Potter series

Music: alternative

Extracurricular Activities: National Physical Fitness award for sports, acting and dance classes, community theatre, babysitting, Drama Club, Student Tutor volunteer, and Family Career and Community Leaders of America (FCCLA)

Hobbies: writing, reading, acting, singing, dancing, photography and video

Tess loves writing and acting.  She has always wanted to have a profession related to the arts and has been involved since she was 5.

As a kid reporter, Tess hopes to have an impact on how world events are told.

"I want to make our world a better place; one step at a time, and being a reporter for Scholastic News is a great way to explain to kids important matters going on in our world," she said.

In her spare time, she enjoys taking photos and choreographing dances.

Tess is in the eighth grade at Northwestern Lehigh Middle School.  She has one younger brother.

Living in the Eye of a Hurricane
By Tess Forestieri
Scholastic Kids Press Corps

My community is like no other. The place where I was born is less than two hours from New York City and in close proximity to Philadelphia. I live in the middle of these two big cities.

It reminds me of the eye of a hurricane. The eye is the middle of the hurricane, where things are peaceful, safe, and calm--even though huge, roaring gusts of wind blow all around it. That is my community: the eye of a hurricane.
 
I live in New Tripoli, Pennsylvania. When I wake up in the morning, I look out my window at the most beautiful view I have ever encountered.  My eyes follow the rolling hills and valleys, clusters of fruit and pine trees, bits of tiny wooded areas, and long fragments of farmland.

Some people come to my home and say, “Oh you have a little country house!” Yes, our house is a little secluded house in a huge rural area. That's just the way my family and I like it. 

When I catch my bus at dawn, I have time to watch the sunrise and look out the window at horse farms and fields. My friends and I often notice things on the ride to school, like a new foal at one of the horse farms.

Sometimes when I describe New Tripoli to people, they get the impression that it is a boring place. This is not the case. My hometown is an exciting region filled with nature, arts, culture and most importantly, special people.

Our community works together. Recently, the mother of two girls who attend my school was killed in an automobile accident at a dangerous intersection. It was an intersection that has produced many accidents and resulted in numerous deaths over the years.

My community came together by creating an online and paper petition to send to the Pennsylvania Department of Transportation requesting a traffic light at this very intersection. The township where the intersection is located has a population of about 1,800 and we managed to collect more than 2,000 signatures from townships from all around the community. In less than two months, the state has lowered the speed limit significantly, installed new road signs, and paid attention to our community’s needs.

This little community’s energy makes you wonder about the things that will happen in the future. This is just one of many stories that show how people come together in New Tripoli, Pennsylvania.