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Schwartz advocates for people half a world away

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Photo by Dan Lassiter

Angelica Schwartz

Angelica Schwartz lives by a simple guiding principle:

“I shall pass through this world but once. If there be any kindness I can show or any good that I can do, let me do it now for I shall not pass this way again.”

The Beloit Turner High School senior learned early in her young life that she didn’t need to wait a single moment before improving the world. All she had to do was jump in and get started.

At 18, she is already a seasoned advocate for people half a world away.

Angelica is best known for her annual Stroll for Sudan, an effort to educate people about the crisis in Darfur. In its fourth year, the walk also raises money for lifesaving food and humanitarian relief in the troubled region of Sudan.

At 15, Angelica saw a television commercial about Darfur and went online to learn more. At first, she did not know how to help. Then she mobilized her peers and organized her first walk in 2007.

“I wondered if anyone would show up,” she recalled.

Angelica found allies in middle school students who had learned about genocide when they studied the Holocaust. She continues to find support among her peers.

“Adults are somewhat jaded,” Angelica said. “They think there are so many issues in the world. Kids usually have stronger reactions when they hear about Darfur. Many really want to help.”

She is reminded time and again that change goes hand in hand with education. Angelica knows she cannot expect people to help her if they have never heard of Darfur. So she educates students in the Turner School District about the crisis. Just as important, she inspires them to do something.

Recently, Angelica addressed 150 adults at the Department of Public Instruction on the importance of involving young people in community-policy work.

She learned her keen organizing skills as a peer educator with Rock County Youth 2 Youth. The organization works to prevent underage drinking and tobacco use. Since seventh grade, Angelica has talked to young people about the dangers of smoking.

Debbie Fischer is director of the agency.

“What I love about Angelica is she is not afraid to be herself,” Fischer said. “She is a young person who really cares and takes it to the next level by doing something about it.”

Teacher Tim Rosenthal has known Angelica since she was in kindergarten.

He was her music teacher through elementary school and is now her high school drama director. He calls Angelica well connected with the human condition.

“It is so typical for a high school student to care about school and friends,” Rosenthal said. “But Angelica is a global thinker. She is really involved in bigger-picture type of things that I don’t expect of the average high school student.”

After graduation, Angelica plans to attend UW-Whitewater to major in education. She says her younger sister, Monica, will probably take over Stroll for Sudan. But Angelica insists she will stay involved in the effort as long as the conflict exists.

The young woman does not do anything half-heartedly.

“When she commits to something, she commits with her full body and soul,” Rosenthal said.

“Anything less would be unacceptable to her.”