CV junior has community, future in mind

In September, Victoria Berndt will be a junior at Central Valley High School, and while school is important to her, so are her community and the future.

She is on the Student Advisory Council for the city of Spokane Valley, she volunteers for Valleyfest, participates in the Royal Fireworks Festival and is active in the Sudden Infant Death Syndrome Foundation.

SIDS is an issue close to Berndt’s heart. Her older sister died of it and she speaks publicly on the subject and raises funds. She is trying to come up with the money to produce an informative video to show in high schools. She also plays the trombone and is teaching herself the guitar. She lettered in band and is active in debate, a craft that she hopes will help her in her other pursuits.

“Band? It’s amazing the feeling of playing on a stage with people who have worked just as hard as you have for that moment in time,” she said, “And debate? Well, I can be as dramatic as I want, and I can win trophies for arguing.”

Berndt, 16, is busy and her long résumé has plenty of room to grow. Her goal is to be a juvenile court judge. “She dislikes seeing kids in trouble and not taken care of,” said her mother, Andrea Berndt.

Victoria Berndt says that kids should be involved in what’s going on in their community and their country because if they don’t know what’s going on, how could they possibly make things better? She said youth today, “Are afraid to be themselves, afraid to say what comes to mind … Personally, I’d rather be hated for who I am then loved for who I’m not.”