Fairlawn teen achieves three-peat win in law contest
By Kathleen Folkerth
FAIRLAWN — If it was up to Rachel Stevenson, all Ohioans would be required by state law to recycle.
Rachel, 16, a home-schooled student from Fairlawn, proposed such a law in the annual Ohio State Bar Association’s (OSBA) “There Ought to be a Law” essay contest and was awarded first place in the state in the 9-10 Grade Division.
The contest asked high school students to write about what they believe should be a law with reasons why that particular law should be enacted, taking into account its impact on the community.
Rachel, the daughter of Roger and Kristen Stevenson, said she was inspired to suggest the recycling law after a trip to Wisconsin last fall.
“They had signs all over saying that recycling was mandatory,” Rachel said. She looked further into the issue “and saw they had some success with it.”
According to Rachel’s research,
in 1990 Wisconsin passed the Solid Waste
Reduction, Recovery and Recycling Law. The law contained
a graduated series of bans on incinerating or putting
into landfills certain items, such as corrugated cardboard,
foam packaging, magazines and newspapers. The Wisconsin
Department of Natural Resources enforces the law. Violators
are fined up to $2,000.
Rachel wrote in her essay that
after five years from full implementation of the law,
nearly 1.6 million tons of waste were diverted from
Wisconsin’s landfills each year.
Rachel said she thinks
Ohio would benefit from a similar law.
“It seems we only have public
awareness programs,” she said. Having a law would
“help our economy and environment.”
She proposed that the Ohio Department
of Natural Resources enforce a similar law here.
Rachel is no stranger to the
law contest. She has entered three years in a row and
each year has received first place in her division.
“These are all blind-judged,”
said Debby Cooper, public
information manager for the OSBA, adding that Rachel’s
submissions have been “quite exceptional.”
Cooper said 139 essays were judged
for the contest. Eighteen students were named as finalists
in the three divisions of 7-8 Grade, 9-10 Grade and 11-12
Grade. First- and second-place winners were then named
in each division.
Rachel said her father, an attorney
with Roetzel & Andress, had encouraged her to enter
the first time in 2004, but she also was influenced
by her brother Ryan, 18, who also has participated and
placed in the contest.
“I wasn’t real sure how
I’d go about writing a law,” Rachel said she
thought when she first participated. “But I enjoyed
it.”
Her other winning entries proposed
laws that would require pets to be restrained in vehicles
and one banning billboards advertising alcoholic beverages.
For her winning entry, Rachel
was feted during an OSBA luncheon in Columbus May 10
in celebration of Law Day. She
received a $500 U.S. Savings Bond and an engraved plaque.
With a couple more years of eligibility
in the contest left, Rachel said she will probably enter
again.
“It’s a lot of fun,”
she said.
Rachel Stevenson (at left), of Fairlawn, poses with Ohio State Bar Association President E. Jane Taylor at the Law Day luncheon, which took place in Columbus May 10.
Photo courtesy of the Ohio State Bar Association
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