Secretary of State visits students
Staff photo/Scott Mitchell Johnson
MAINE SECRETARY OF STATE Charles Summers Jr. spoke to fifth-graders at Zippel Elementary School last Wednesday. Summers visited with the students for about an hour talking about his role as Secretary of State, as well as his military background. Pictured following his presentation are, clockwise from left: Jonah Hudson, Eleanor St. Peter, Summers, Luccas Lawrence, Maddie Michaud and Sherralyn Robbins.
By Scott Mitchell Johnson
PRESQUE ISLE — Fifth-graders at Zippel Elementary School were given a homework assignment last Wednesday; not by their teachers, but by Maine Secretary of State Charles Summers Jr.
“I want you to go home and if you know people who text and drive, I want you to tell them that it’s illegal in Maine to do that,” said Summers, “and that it’s very, very, very unsafe. If it’s your Mom or Dad, aunt or uncle, brother, sister, cousin or your neighbor across the street, I want you to tell them — from me — to stop it.
“What happens when you get in these wrecks is it doesn’t just hurt the people in the wreck,” he said, “but it hurts their Moms and Dads and hurts the entire town.”
Summers visited with the fifth-grade students for about an hour talking about his role as Secretary of State, as well as his military background.
“Remember one thing, I’m the guy that’s going to give you your driver’s licenses … if you behave yourselves,” he said. “In Maine, the Secretary of State has the responsibility of driver’s licenses. My job is kind of unique — in that respect — that I oversee about 350 employees in the Bureau of Motor Vehicles who work in 16 offices around the state where your Mom and Dad, aunt and uncle, brother and sister, and teachers go to get their driver’s licenses.
“I’m also in charge of the elections in the state of Maine. It’s my responsibility to make sure that the elections are conducted well and fairly,” said Summers. “We’re going into a presidential election season this year and it should be very interesting.”
Staff photo/Scott Mitchell Johnson
CHARLES SUMMERS JR., right, spoke to fifth-graders at Zippel Elementary School last Wednesday for about an hour talking about what he does as Maine’s Secretary of State. Summers explained that he oversees state elections, the Bureau of Motor Vehicles and the Maine State Archives. While in Aroostook County, Summers hosted a “Conversations with the Communities” Wednesday night in Caribou to discuss ways to improve the safety of Maine’s young drivers.
Summers also shared that he is “in charge of grandma’s attic,” otherwise known as the Maine State Archives.
“That’s a place where we keep all the records and papers that have to do with state government. When there are election results and they have to be kept forever, they go to the State Archives,” he said. “It’s a big building and it’s got thousands and thousands of pieces of paper dealing with everything from the buying and selling of real estate to Civil War records to election results and the original Maine constitution that formed the state of Maine in 1820.”
Summers explained that Maine’s Secretary of State is elected by the legislature.
“Most politicians are elected by everyone in the state, but in Maine, Tennessee and New Hampshire,” he said, “the Secretary of State is elected by a majority of the senators and representatives.”
A native of Danville, Ill. and presently residing in Scarborough, Summers shared with the students that he is a commander in the United States Navy Reserve currently assigned to the public affairs staff of the Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, Gen. Martin Dempsey.
From October 2009 to October 2010, he served on active duty on the staff of the former Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, Adm. Mike Mullen. During this time he completed a temporary assignment as a member of Combined Forces Special Operations Component Command-Afghanistan (CFSOCC-A). In March 2007, he was recalled to active duty and deployed to Iraq in support of Operation Iraqi Freedom. He was also activated after the Sept. 11, 2001 terrorist attacks, serving on the staff of former Secretary of the Navy Gordon England. A public affairs officer, Summers has served in the Navy Reserve since 1996.
“As you go through life, it’s important to get involved in the town that you live in, and when you go to school, it’s important to get involved in college life,” he said, “and try to do things that are bigger than you are … something that isn’t just focused on you, but focuses on other people because when you do that, you’ll be able to look back and see the lives that were made better because of that.
“We opened a medical clinic in Iraq one time and in the first three hours of the clinic being open, 1,100 people showed up. Some of them were 50-60 years old and had never been to a doctor before,” said Summers. “We helped make a difference in those peoples’ lives, and I encourage you to try to make a difference, too.”
Summers’ visit to Zippel Elementary School was the result of his friendship with Sharon Campbell and her daughter, Eleanor St. Peter, who’s a fifth-grader at Zippel. Campbell is the regional representative for U.S. Sen. Olympia Snowe.
“Charlie and I are old friends and we both worked for Sen. Snowe; in fact he was the state director of Sen. Snowe’s office when I was hired,” said Campbell. “We have stayed connected and when he comes to The County he often contacts our family. Charlie was up for Veterans Day and spoke in Caribou and he stayed with us, and he and Eleanor had a conversation that night over dinner.”
“He said he wanted to come to Zippel to speak so my Mom and I e-mailed him when my teacher [Robin Norsworthy] said it would be OK, and then we arranged a time for him to come,” St. Peter said. “It’s cool that the Secretary of State came to my school. I know that what he does is important, but I just know him as Charlie, but my classmates thought it was pretty cool having the Secretary of State visit. They wanted to shake his hand.”
Summers said he enjoys speaking with students.
“It’s fun for me; I like it more than being in Augusta sometimes,” he laughed. “Plus, it shows that you’re a human being and they can put a face to a name. Especially in Presque Isle where there’s such a distance between here and Augusta, the only thing you see or hear about Augusta is what you get in the news, and that’s very impersonal.”
While in Aroostook County, Summers hosted a “Conversations with the Communities” Wednesday night in Caribou to discuss ways to improve the safety of Maine’s young drivers.
“Too many tragedies occur on Maine roadways involving young drivers every year. This past year alone, there were around 50 fatal crashes where a young driver — someone between the ages of 16 and 24 — was involved. That’s almost one crash a week,” Summers said, noting that “it’s been about 16 years since we changed the way we teach driver’s education.”
“It is my responsibility as the Secretary of State to look at ways to improve the safety of young drivers and all of us traveling Maine’s roadways. I want to ensure that when a young person gets behind the wheel, they have been provided with the best tools available and experience they need to be a safe, responsible driver,” he said. “The best way to begin this process is to engage parents, students, educators and other concerned members of the community in an effort to make Maine’s young drivers the best in America.”
