Cass Lake teen made herself into a leader

By Laurie Swenson

Pioneer Staff Writer

      Ashley Williams has learned some hard lessons in her young life, and the 15-year-old Cass Lake teen-ager is determined to pass those lessons along to help other kids do positive things with their lives – starting with her three younger sisters.

      Williams, who was exposed to drugs and alcohol at an early age, started drinking and smoking marijuana when she was only 11. She quit at 13, she said.

      “When I was younger, I kind of got into that stuff, until my little sisters got into it,” Williams said. “I quit. I talked to my little sisters about it, and they quit.”

      Williams and her sisters were removed from their biological parents at a young age, and were placed in a foster home, where their situation became abusive. As the oldest child, Williams took responsibility to protect herself and her younger siblings. Eventually they were adopted. They now live in Cass Lake with their mom, Louise Shelly, and her sisters say she is wonderful.

      Williams said she still has contact with her biological parents. “I have more contact with my dad than my mom,” she said, adding that they are “trying really hard” to straighten out their lives.

      The Williams sisters are very close in age. Kelly is 13, Cordelia is 12 and Dana is 11. They also have a very close relationship, said Angie Ferris, service and leadership coordinator at the Boys & Girls Club.

      When Williams hears people say there’s nothing to do but drink or do drugs, she tells them there are plenty of other things to do. “If you do that, you might end up getting hurt, or someone else might get hurt, or something else bad might happen.”

      Williams is a busy volunteer at the Boys & Girls Club of the Leech Lake Area, and has many other community-service involvements, but she also finds time to have fun. She listens to music, plays piano and sings, and she’s a center/guard on the Cass Lake-Bena eighth-grade girls basketball team. “That’s my favorite sport,” she said.

      Her American Indian heritage is also very important to her. “I really love getting into my native traditions,” she said. “I love learning about it, going to powwows and dancing.”

      She also enjoys spending time helping others, particularly younger kids. Williams was recently honored for her work as a mentor and role model for youth, and as a community leader, when she was named Minnesota’s Youth of the Year by the United Way.

      “I feel privileged to observe Ashley’s coming of age and growing into the young leader she is,” Tuleah Palmer, executive director of the Boys & Girls Club, said in a letter nominating Williams for the award. “She is reliable, generous, funny and fun, helpful and sincere. She is also very resourceful and has strong intuitiveness as a leader. More importantly, she creates other leaders rather than followers.”

      Williams has been a member of the Boys & Girls Club since 2002. She is also very involved in the Ogimaawai (“to be a leader”) Keystone Club, where she has helped plan and implement community clean-up projects and special events for the community. She has been a member of the Keystone Club since March 2004 and has served as vice-president and secretary.

      “I first wanted to be a role model for my little sisters,” Williams said. “It made me want to go out and be a role model for everyone else.”

      “As a three-year member of the club, there are many younger members that look up to Ashley,” Palmer said. “They love when she comes to hang out with them.”

      “She’s a lot of fun,” Ferris said.

      “I like working with little kids,” Williams said.

      This weekend Williams, her sister, Kelly, and Ferris are in the Twin Cities for the third annual PeaceJam. Each year one of 12 different Nobel Laureates comes to Minnesota. This year PeaceJam is hosting Rigoberta Menchú Tum, who received the 1992 Nobel Peace Prize for her heroic work for peace in Guatemala. High school youth and their teachers and advisers take part.

      The goal of PeaceJam is to inspire a new generation of peacemakers – youth who will transform themselves, their communities, and their world.

      The girls will also work on a service project while they are in the Twin Cities, Ferris said.