Westlake Village honors its volunteers

by Daniel Wolowiczdanielw@theacorn.com

HELPING HANDS— Erin Powell, left, and Tess Croner display their volunteer of the year awards given to them by the city of Westlake Village. Powell, a longtime educator, founded a safe driving program. Croner, an Agoura High graduate, had over 300 hours of volunteer time with local organizations. Tess Croner wakes up at 2 a.m. to relocate the eggs of endangered sea turtles.

Erin Powell takes time out of her hectic schedule to make sure local teenagers are safe every time they get behind the wheel.

It’s those traits that show why Powell was named the 2005 Citizen of the Year and Croner was selected as the 2005 Youth of the Year by the Westlake Village City Council.

The two received their $500 awards at a recent city council meeting. Powell donated her money to a charity founded to stop child abuse. Croner will use her money to help pay for college.

“I’m very blessed and privileged to live in this city,” Croner said. “It has given me so many wonderful possibilities, and I was really proud to be able to give back.”

An Agoura High School senior, Croner volunteered at Senior Concerns, a nonprofit organization that provides programs for seniors with special needs. She also donated her time at the Neighborhood Day Camp and as a math tutor.

In addition, she was member of Agoura High’s water polo and swim teams.

However, Croner’s true passion is the environment. She has been the president of Agoura High’s environmental club for the past two years and traveled to Costa Rica last summer as part of the Rustic Pathways Turtle Conservation Project.

During her two weeks in Central America, Croner helped relocate turtle eggs from the beach to a local hatchery. The time abroad also gave the 17-year-old a chance to work on her Spanish.

Although the trip was her first time out of the country, Croner plans to continue her international travel with a vacation this summer in Madrid, Spain.

Croner plans to attend Washington University in St. Louis next year, where she will use her love of nature to major in environmental policy.

Jean Gilbert Hawkins, a counselor at Agoura High School, nominated Croner for the award in January.

“She’s extremely strong academically, athletically, personally and from a community service standpoint,” Gilbert Hawkins said. “I just thought she would be an excellent representative from Agoura High School, as well as Westlake.”

With her selfless dedication to making the roads safer, Erin Powell is another stand-out representative for the city.

Five years ago when she served as a counselor at Agoura High School, Erin Powell said she saw firsthand the heart-breaking consequences of reckless teen driving. To help raise awareness of this deadly problem throughout the Conejo Valley, Powell started “Is Your Teen Road Ready.”

In its fifth year, the program teaches parents and teens the importance of safe driving. Originally given in the Agoura Hills High gym, the popular presentation now attracts so many residents it sells out at the Thousand Oaks Civic Arts Plaza.

“There’s no way I could put this event on if it wasn’t for the board of directors that puts in so many hours each year,” Powell said. She added it takes nearly six months to prepare for the one-night event.

The program has been so successful that the Road Safety International, a Thousand Oaks-based manufacturer of car safety products, has asked Powell to take her program nationwide.

However, Powell, a busy mother of four and assistant principal at Las Colinas Middle School in Camarillo, does not have the time for such an endeavor.

Powell said Calabasas High School had also asked to bring the program to their campus. Unable to generate the manpower to personally make it possible, Powell gave the school the program’s master plan so they could replicate the presentation. The next lecture series at the Civic Arts Plaza will be given in March 2006.

Powell, a Conejo Valley resident for over 15 years, has lived in Westlake Village with her husband David and four children for the past five years.

Last week, Powell was named the new assistant principal of AC Stelle Middle School in Calabasas.

Powell said she plans to take a Scandinavian cruise this summer with her family.