Page 4 THE VILLADOM TIMES II • November 2, 2011 Ridgewood Miss Teen America takes on bullies at StarPower event by John Koster Miss Teen America Katarina Kneer is involved in a number of worthy causes, but the effort dearest to her heart is helping girls survive bullying as well as cyberbullying. “One day in my fourth grade class, my teacher assigned a project that was due a few days later,” the 17year-old recalled. “I was required to make a house out of popsicle sticks, which seemed treacherous enough due to my lack of artistic ability. I laid my popsicle house on my desk as I went to put my belongings in the closet. When I came back, I saw a mess of popsicle sticks scattered everywhere. As I frantically looked around the classroom trying to locate my project, I saw a girl snickering in the corner and pointing at me with her friends. It all clicked. She had broken my project. I began to cry and ask her why she ruined my project. Her response was something I’ll never forget: She cussed at me, and proceeded to tell me to check the third stall in the girls’ bathroom to find out why she broke my popsicle house. I walked into the stall and read obscenities about me. It was like a stab in the heart. From then I realized that I was the target that Left: Adult volunteers Deb Stephans and Laura Kelly with some of the girls they counseled during the StarPower event at the Ridgewood Library. Right: Miss Teen America Katarina Kneer with some of the girls who came to ask her for her autograph. everybody wanted to pick on. In middle school a group of kids created an I Hate Katarina Club and created a website, T-shirts, and stickers to promote their club. Everyone joined, and I was the ostracized little girl who had no one to turn to.” Kneer said she begged her mother to home-school her, but even away from middle school she continued to receive electronic hate mail. She said she gradually realized that the bullies suffered from insecurities and were projecting their self-hatred onto her. She hopes to become a psychiatrist as well as a model and actress. She maintains a straight-A average and joined a variety of charitable activities to make up for her lack of a peer-grouped social life. Her special project is collecting shoes for those in need with the Soles4Souls Program. She also travels through the middle schools and high schools in the tristate area as Miss Teen America to make speeches about her experiences with bullies and to encourage girls to stand up for themselves and develop self-esteem without (continued on page 10)